Sat 24 Jul – High Voltage Festival

Yeah ok there were a lot of you older people there. I think the mix of ages was brilliant at this festival, it was great to see all the guys and girls in or bordering on retirement dusting their rock socks off and shoving them back on, only to send them flying off again in a transcendent moment of “My God I was alive during the best decades of musical prowess and it's all still going." Us young whippersnappers with our stupid haircuts and chains and make up and running around like hairy…

Mon 5 Jul – The Sword, Gentlemens Pistols

Back in Camden again for some summer rocking out, my esteemed colleagues and I travelled far and wide for about an hour(ish) to see these stell-coated-vienetta-munching-behemoths after missing them at last year's Sonisphere because they were apparently "too tired" (itself a feeble excuse surely masking a more serious affliction, but thankfully one that hasn't affected their performance) hoping we would see the Sword we remembered from the 2008 Gods of the Earth Tour. We weren't disappointed.

The barfly is yet another example of Camden musical boner-inducement. It's a small pub with a…

Thu 25 Feb – Bigelf, Priestess

Camden in itself is a great place, full of character, randomness and slightly less of the prevalent anonymity of London. A fitting venue within this microcosm was the Underworld, where Bigelf and Priestess would finish off their UK tour with a plethora of guitar licks, sweat and laughs.

The Underworld is a “comfy” venue to say the least. Smaller than Norwich’s Waterfront, the basement stage exudes a rugged atmosphere that was instantly appealing to one’s first impressions. You enter a sort of laser-king/Quasar - style aesthetic; lots of dark corners and neon lighting juxtaposed…

Mon 23 Nov – Rodrigo y Gabriela, Wallis Bird

First off, the Apollo is a good solid venue. Reminiscent of Brixton Academy, it's got an upper tier balcony and sloped standing with mid-rails allowing everyone to see. Light-wise there was an ambience on some of the more solemn pieces, but it was a much more basic technical set up than I've seen at places like Brixton. This is unimportant however, for two acoustic guitars were quivering, trembling, craving to be caressed by their Mexican masters. The speakers sobbed out the interval songs in pain as the wait was prolonged before…

Wed 10 Jun – UFO

After finding the Junction in Cambridge, to which i arrived an hour early (thanks Seetickets, but ah well) i realised how many families and "die-hard" fans were there. Along with about four 10 year old kids, a couple of other students and one or two very confused looking old ladies, i felt quite the outcast.
The atmosphere was good though, and when we were finally allowed in i remarked to myself (in my head) how much the place felt like a slightly more characteristic and rugged version of the O2 Indigo where i had the…

Sun 23 Nov – Airbourne, Stone Gods

The gig opened with Sound of Fury, a punk band from Canada who had a good overall sound, a very tight drummer and a very good looking lead guitarist.
The bassist didnt do much, looked as though he belonged in the Misfits and got one solo which shocked me into realising he can play. Rhythm guitarist didn't do much, and the frontman leaked ego with his super-buff abs, bowler hat and metal chain. Not impressed, tbh, but yeah credit to an instrumental version of their songs would be due.
I may check out…

Fri 7 Nov – Alter Bridge, Logan, Hot Leg

The queue going in was packed even though me and my flatmate left our accomodation on campus pretty late, we still got to the front with no problems. There was a real mix of audience, from the 14 year olds (barely) next to me to the grizzled veteran rockers who obviously wanted a cheap night of metal string-twanging, sweat and starch.

Logan, the new sensation from Scotland, were well recieved and (my flat mate was keen to reiterate) good footballers, having played earlier that day. I think their sound live is…

Led Zeppelin

No we didnt get to go see them, it was a tad painful, well it was mortification to the balls to be honest, but its near christmas and me adn simon can have a live concert album night with all three including MotherShip again so yeah. It will be ok.
Getting into Misfits lately from Sarah :D, quite liking their stuff need to grab some more. Listening to loads of Yes as well, so groovy and weird. And of course christmas videos, such as this one;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktqk9ufaDBA
and yeah, its all good.
Also wish this guy would bring out…