February 2010...

February is the cruelest month so they say and as the long cold winter continues to grip the land my gig diary is beginning to fill up and 2010 is starting to take shape including the return of Wildside @ the central in Nottingham...

Anti-Nowhere League… Old Bell… Derby… 05/02/10…
It’s time for a little anarchy in my life so it’s off to the old bell Derby for those ever perennial punk rockers Anti-Nowhere League, although they’ve been around since 1980 I only got to see them for the first time last year at the vive la punk fest In Leamington Spa, impressed I must have been has I’m back for a second helping. The old bell is Derby’s premier live venue these days and it’s filling up nicely by the time the opening band of the night take the stage, Dirt Box Disco serve up a recipe of glam/punk in drag, looking resplendent in comedy wigs and flowery frocks. I walk in to hear them singing I just wanna be a girl hilarious if you saw the state of them, shit for brains, dirtbox day and the eponymous track dirtbox disco are the other memorable numbers, this band are a must see act they’ll bring a smile to anyone’s face and they can play a bit as well. The second support band tonight are something of a revelation for me, Good Knives are currently touring the UK and Europe, the band hail from the Los Angeles but lead singer Shaun comes from Peterborough and tonight is their first ever live show not that you would be able to tell. With an adrenaline fuelled performance Good Knives are not really a punk band they certainly have edge and with some cracking songs like deathless ride, Angelina, broken bones and screamin I’m inspired enough to go and purchase their brand new debut album, at £5 it’s a bargain! If you get the chance to check out Good Knives take it from me you won’t be disappointed. The old bell is packed out by the time The League hit the stage, Animal (vox) Johnny Skullknuckles (guitar) Shady (bass) and Nato (drums) are the Anti-Nowhere League and they deliver a top notch performance that includes new and ‘classic’ songs from their thirty year history. The crowd here in Derby are enthusiastic and with a sizable moshpit at the front of the stage there’s plenty of stage invasion opportunities to some raucous songs such as I hate people, my God’s bigger than your God, we are the league and we will survive to name just four. No Anti-Nowhere League show would be complete without them playing their first single streets of London and their trade mark song so what, I recon no one left this venue tonight dissatisfied after a class act proved that the longer you’ve been at it the better you get (Oooer!) I head off home having watched three bloody good bands, it’s nights like these that keep me going to see live shows and long may it last… GD.
http://www.myspace.com/animalanwl
http://www.myspace.com/goodknives
http://www.myspace.com/dirtboxslags

Hells Belles… Old Bell… Derby… 27/02/10…
Obsessive Compulsive/ Aceldama/ Invey/ Incassum…
To say I’m looking forward to the gig tonight is an understatement, four female fronted bands on the same bill, Hells Belles promises to be a great night. First off I take the road to Derby, my tour manager tonight is MiniGD and upon arrival in the city we find it a difficult job to get parked up, everyone, his wife and sheep seems to be in Derby this evening. Eventually we arrive at the old bell only to have missed the majority of the first band’s set, Incassum are Manchester based and although I only saw about three of their songs what I did see was most impressive. They’ve got the feel of a traditional heavy metal band but there’s a melodic side to Incassum as well, Sharleen Kennedy screams like a demented banshee one second only to sing like a rock diva the next which ups the interest level for me no end and coupled with a energy fuelled performance by the whole band I’m left wanting more. Invey are on next and it’s the second time this year I’ve seen the Leicester based band that according to lead singer Claire have gone a whole year with the same line-up, some what of a record I’m lead to believe. Invey are a bit like Marmite in that you either love them or hate them, I can’t stand Marmite but I love Invey, I defy anyone not to be amazed by what Claire does on stage, she’s unique, her vocal gymnastics deserve a gold medal. Tonight’s performance was loads better than when I saw them last month at the old angel in Nottingham, they were on a bigger stage this time and the PA at the old bell is far superior. Aceldama from Birmingham are second top of the bill of Hells Belles, I’ve only seen them once before about two years ago and although I thought them good on that occasion they didn’t do anything to turn my head. Well a couple of years down the line and Aceldama have upped the anti by about 100%, the raven haired Leanne is an out and out singer in the ‘classic’ rock style. The band play some catchy rock anthems like do it again, things will change and hate you more which gives lead guitarist Dawz plenty of opportunity to pull some of the more extravagant facial expressions I’ve seen in a long while. The second band form Manchester tonight is none other than show headliners Obsessive Compulsive who I’ve seen many times over the last few years and they always entertain. With their debut album only a couple of months away from release Obsessive Compulsive understandably want to showcase their newer songs like spit the medicine and the brilliant man vs machine sadly though some of their older material like dying dying dead, God shaped hole and in memory of have been dropped from the set. Front woman Kelii gives an intense emotional energy packed performance which defines her style and the same goes for the guys in the band Giz (guitar) Pete (bass) and Dani (drums) I personally can’t wait to get my hands on their new album. Hells Belles was a success and I hope Rezzi of T6 promotions does this again sometime… GD.

Anti-Nowhere League video live from the Old Bell Derby...

Blaze Bayley video live from Rock City Nottingham...

Isolysis video live from Rock City Nottingham...


Evil Scarecrow video live from Rock City Nottingham...

Obsessive Compulsive video live from The Old Bell Derby...

February... Kitty Thrill...

Birthday:July 30, 1990

Hometown:Burton, United Kingdom

Relationship Status:Single

Political Views:Fuck That!

Religious Views:Rock 'n' Roll

Activities:Going to Rallies ♥ Unwanted MCC

Interests:PART TIME POTHEAD, FULL TIME PISS ARTIST
I sing.
I model.
I play hard.
Family are the most important people in my life.

Favorite Music:The Levellers
Bon Jovi
Motley Crue
Kiss
Hardcore Superstar
The Progidy
Pendulum
Bob Marley
Crash Diet
Queen Adreena
Def Leppard
Guns 'n' Roses
Blondie
Dolly Parton

Feb… [9]
05th: Anti-Nowhere League + Good Knives + Dirt Box Disco [The Old Bell Derby]
06th: Hollywood Tease + Snakeskin [The Central Nottingham]
12th: Isolysis [The Sitwell Derby]
13th: Blaze Bayley + Sinocence [Rock City Nottingham]
19th: In For The Kill [Tap n’ Tumbler Nottingham]
20th: Evil Scarecrow + Sons Of Merrick + Isolysis [Rock City Nottingham]
26th: Isolysis [Scala Ilkeston]
26th: NG26 + Planet Friday [Three Horse Shoes Ilkeston]
Hells Belles…
27th: Obsessive Compulsive + Aceldama + Invey + Incassum [The Old Bell Derby]

Above: Alice & Blaze Bayley @ Rock City.
Above: GD & Blaze Bayley @ Rock City.
Above: Claire (Invey) & GD @ Hells Belles Derby.
Above: GD & Sharleen (Incassum) @ Hells Belles Derby.
Above: Leanne (Aceldama) & GD @ Hells Belles Derby.
Above: Kelii (Obsessive Compulsive) & GD @ Hells Belles Derby.

Above The Appocalyps Girls & GD @ Hells Belles Derby.

January 2010...

Ok: so people that know me from myspace/YouTube/facebook will have seen my blogs/videos/photos on those sites, well for 2010 GD man of metal is starting this new blogspot. Updated every month to let ya know what gigs I've been to with various reviews/videos/pictures etc, enjoy...

PS: Here are the links to my other sites please get in touch via any or all of them...
http://www.myspace.com/officialgdpage
http://www.youtube.com/user/GDster1
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/GD.manofmetal?ref=profile

Iron on Maiden + I.C.O.N…
PJ’s Ripley… 16/01/2010…
Back in early 2008 the snooker club Potters at Langley Mill closed its doors for the last time, not only leaving a void of the green baize but also leaving us devoid of a cracking good live music venue. Stepping into the breach some two years on is guess what? Another snooker club and PJ’s in Ripley is very similar in many respects to Potters. For a start it’s on the first floor and from the second weekend of 2010 there’s to be a tribute band supported by an original band every other Saturday. Kicking it all off is a bit of a war of the roses scenario, Yorkshire’s Iron on Maiden (see pic) are to headline while being ably supported by Lancashire’s I.C.O.N and a reasonably sized crowd has gathered by the time four of Burnley’s finest sons hit the stage. I.C.O.N have been making big noises on the metal stage over the last few years supporting bands like Diamond Head, Witchfynde and Blaze Bayley to name just three and if you like powerful hard rock tunes then go and see these guys, let me tell ya the audience at PJ’s were suitably impressed. Tonight’s venue has a brilliant PA, clear and loud but not distorted and with a roomy but not very high stage has won brownie points over the now defunct Potters as far as I’m concerned. Having seen Iron on Maiden several times before (most recently as last weekend in Sheffield) I’m under no allusions as what to expect from their show, serving us a lengthy set of all of Iron Maiden’s most popular songs they’re most definitely crowd pleasers and why not. Front man Matt is a dead ringer for Bruce Dickinson both vocally and physically as he cajoles and berates the crowd until they join in with singing, dancing and clapping. The rest of Iron on Maiden do a fine job and with great songs like, ‘fear of the dark’ ‘can I play with madness’ and ‘run to the hills’ to showcase their talents, the inaugural evening of tribute/original band nights has most definitely been a success. Coming up at PJ’s Ripley are tributes to Foo Fighters, Green Day, Guns n’ Roses, Oasis, Stereophonics, Thin Lizzy and Thunder! So get yourselves down to Booth Street Ripley for some live music… GD.
For future gigs at PJ’s check out Metal Mansions myspace…
www.myspace.com/metalmansionspromotions


On The Road With Sack Sabbath…
Barden’s Boudoir… London… 30/01/10…
The first month of the new decade is drawing to a close as I head off to That London with top tribute band Sack Sabbath. Over the last seven years I’ve travelled the length and breadth of England with these guys, made a foray into Wales and invaded Belgium but there’s nothing like a trip to the smoke to make you appreciate living in the east midlands. The current line-up of Sack Sabbath have gelled into an impressive unit, there have been many changes in personnel over the years to the masters of Ozzy era Black Sabbath and new boy Ozzy Asbeen who joined last year has settled into his role of the Prince of Darkness with relative ease. Upon arrival at our destination it’s apparent that it ain’t gonna be easy to get loaded in, parked across a busy main road and faced with a steep set of stairs leading down to a basement that is Barden’s boudoir which makes the north face of the Eiger look like a piece of piss it’s a case of all hands to the pumps. The clock is ticking so it’s a quick sound check where the afore mentioned Ozzy Asbeen treats us to a bit of ‘children of the sea’ is this a portent of things to come? I hope so because in the early days of Sack Sabbath they used to play some Dio era songs and I’m hoping they reintroduce a few to their set in the near future. We find out that being London everything is open all night so there’s no point starting the show before midnight, which means a very long wait giving me time to introduce the band members to you, on drums is Bill’s Bored (or is it Board?) he’s the fourth drummer they’ve had and is the second newest member having joined about a year ago. The base player is, wait for it, Geezer I can’t believe it’s not Butler who took over from Geezer’s Butler in 2007 and funnily enough is the fourth bassist they’ve had, how time flies. Ozzy Asbeen the fourth (yes fourth again) lead singer of the band joined around the middle of last year and is doing a great job having stepped up to the plate when long time member Ozzy Odbin decided to hang up his silver crucifix after a mammoth four year stint. Last but not least is lead guitarist Tony IOU who needs no introduction; he’s the only original member of Sack Sabbath and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Back to Barden’s and about ten thirty the venue starts to fill up with all sorts of weird and wonderful people, at eleven thirty it’s time to get the road on the show as they say and over the next ninety minutes the place went crazy! Crowd surfing, stage diving, head banging, hanging off anything they could grab hold of it seemed like the crowd were truly possessed, iron man, symptom of the universe, war pigs, children of the grave, national acrobat, Sabbath bloody Sabbath and of course paranoid were just some of the songs in the set and every one was greeted with uproarious cheers. With no barriers at the front of the stage and no security things were getting a little feisty with equipment in danger of serious damage, a few lights were totally wrecked in the ensuing mayhem and a couple of monitors were constantly disappearing into the melee at the front. The management at Braden’s sent in three guys to sure up security and protect the band which just about did the trick; Ozzy was feeding off all the craziness and it was undoubtedly his best performance to date, Tony IOU at many points during the set became inaudible due to having his guitar lead accidentally unplugged by stage invading punters. At the back Bill on drums looked very silly in his comedy wig while Geezer on bass was the most animated I’ve seen him on stage, moshing along with the masses. Like I said before London is like a different world, after the live show a metal disco kicked in and while I was helping to load out the band’s gear a guy stopped me and asked who the band was, I told him to which he replied ‘when are they coming on?’ this was nearly 2am and he’d just got to the venue! One of the best things about going to the Capitol is going home again and after a small detour to avoid not one but two incidents where the road ahead was closed off with many a blue flashing light involved it was with elated relief that we headed back up the north bound carriageway of the M1. Getting home about half past five on a freezing Sunday morning it was finally time to hit the sack after another great night out on the road with Sack Sabbath… GD.




New Generation Superstars – Raising the Stakes…

Released a few months back ‘Raising the Stakes’ is the eagerly awaited follow up to New Generation Superstars’ 2007 debut album ‘Crash Course in Rock & Roll’ and if a band can improve the quality of their output from one album to another that surely is a sign of a great band. Well let me tell ya NGS’ second opus ticks all the boxes on that score and some, with a dozen quality rock numbers beautifully packaged into a no nonsense disc. Track one is ‘I won’t stop’ which revs up the album to 100 miles an hour, a catchy song that lays down the boys from Leicester’s intent right from the start. Track two, ‘nothin’ to lose’ which coincidently is to be released as a digital single on the 1st of March possesses a chorus that I guarantee once heard you won’t be able to get out of your head and on top of that lends the album it’s title. ‘Addictive’ comes next a catchy tale of a girl called Susie (it’s always Susie isn’t it), it’s strange for me reviewing this disc because I’ve heard all these songs loads of times over the last year or so on the many NGS gigs I’ve been to and if you’ve never seen them live then you should. One of those familiar songs is ‘way back home’ which is always a favourite in there live set and tends to get the crowd singing along. NGS are a multi faceted band and in track five, ‘sub class’ we can see their Punk roots showing through while track six, ‘set you free’ comes across as a chant along glam/sleaze number. ‘Beat ‘em down’ has some gorgeous guitar licks from Davey Messiah and is more reminiscent of the material from the first album. More punky business comes in the form of ‘wipeout’ while ‘rocker’ seems a more traditional rock song with plenty of opportunity for raised fists and punching of air. The final three tracks on ‘raising the stakes come up on you fast, numbers ten and eleven, ‘ain’t got time’ and ‘star’ are both trademark New Gen while the final song is totally different to anything else on the album. They sometimes say leave the best till last and that’s exactly what NGS have done finishing on a bit of a ballad which shows AJ, Davey, Tony and Chris can be subtle and let me tell ya this one goes down well live too. Talking of live maybe their third album could be just that a live disc for a band that is always touring both here in Britain as well as on the continent and even New York City. Behind every good man is a woman or so they say well behind the four good men of NGS is a formidable woman in the form of Shelly their manager and she would make my life hell if I failed to mention that during March 2010 New Generation Superstars will be touring with Vanity Ink and Violent Devine Starting on the 10th (Newcastle) 11th (Stoke) 12th (London) 13th (Leicester) and 14th (Nottingham). If you like your music dirty, sleazy, punky, rocky, glammy, catchy, riffy and indeed anything else with f y on the end of it go get ‘raising the stakes’ and play it medium rare! GD.

Iron on Maiden & Sack Sabbath live @ the boardwalk Sheffield...

Invey live @ old angel Nottingham...



January... Clare Lepard...

Birthday:
March 19, 1986
Hometown:
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Religious Views:
Take it to church :-P
Political Views:
Fuck politics

Activities:
Getting wasted, Dancing on Tables, Singing at the top of my lungs, Causing general mayhem, indulging in various Drunken antics - Mainly falling over.
Interests:
Hairspray - more than motley crue could handle!, Anything Glittery-Animal Printy-Tight and Skimpy, Trashy Sleazy Rock'n'Roll, Dancing the night away, Drinking til i drop and then drinkin' some more, Living life fast & furious - Not giving a damn! Rockin' out at shows, With friends who Kick ass.
Favorite Music:
Mötley CrüeHanoi RocksMichael MonroeVince NeilAndy McCoyRob ZombieKISSTwisted SisterAlice CooperThin LizzyJoan Jett & the Blackhearts

Jan… [8]
08th: Snakeskin + Grand Ultra [Three horse Shoes Ilkeston]
09th: Iron on Maiden + Sack Sabbath [The Board Walk Sheffield]
15th: Grim Dylan Rubella [The Appleby Burton-on-Trent]
16th: Iron on Maiden + I.C.O.N [PJ’s Ripley]
22nd: New Generation Superstars [The Sitwell Derby]
23rd: Invey + Tastebuds + Scarlet’s Wake + Jukebox Junkies [The Old Angel Nottingham]
Unsung Heroes (Fund Raiser)…
29th: NG26 + Isolysis + Airborne + Junction [Labour Club Heanor]
30th: Sack Sabbath [Barden’s Boudoir London]

(Above)... GD & Vicky Bandit (Grim Dylan) @ The Appleby Burton-on-Trent.
(Above)... Halo & GD @ The Old Angel Nottingham.
Above... GD With Scarlet's Wake @ The Old Angel Nottinghm.
(Above)... Fun Time @ Unsung Heroes Fund Raiser.