Jettblack and Crashdiet @ The Joiners, Southampton 28/04/2013

JETTBLACK
CRASHDIET, WESTERN SAND + HOLLYWOOD TRASH @ THE JOINERS, SOUTHAMPTON 28/04/2013
Words by Charlotte Whittingham
Photos by Naomi Rigley

Thunderous drums, slick guitar solos and big hair were the main factors of Jettblack and Crashdiet’s sold out co-headline show at The Joiners for the last night of their tour.

The night kicked off with local hard rockers Hollywood Trash, influences from Motley Crue and Guns ‘N’ Roses were very clear through the band’s music. With powerful vocal work, rolling drums and original guitar solos, this young band definitely have the whole rock package and have the potential to climb high on the musical ladder with their catchy songs such as Mr Rock ‘N’ Roll and Diamond In Your Eye. Overall a great performance from Hollywood Trash and a fantastic way to start a fantastic evening, if you haven’t seen this band already I highly recommend it. The positive reactions amongst the crowd from beginning to the end of their set said it all.

Next up were Bournemouth Southern rockers Western Sand, this gig showed that they have most definitely grown as a band and how far they have come since I first saw them nearly two years ago. An atmospheric backing track built up anticipation amongst the crowd as they made their way onto the stage, starting with song Better Days really got the crowds going and their set was well underway. Tonight was the premier of brand new song Dog Without A Bone that started off quite ballad like, so when it sharply transitioned to the upbeat tempo I was taken aback as I did not expect it. Overall a fantastic performance from the boys, they now also have a new EP available click their link at the bottom of the page for more details.

As Swedish glam rockers Crashdiet made their way to the stage the cheers and chants were heard all over the venue. I hadn’t seen them live before so I didn’t know quite what to expect. Starting off with their new album opener Change The World got the crowds going instantly, they had a great stage presence and it was great how they interacted with the fans. There was a mixture of material from their latest album and their previous albums, from Riot in Everyone to Garden Of Babylon everything about Crashdiet’s performance on stage was flawless. From their slick guitar riffs to vocalists Simon Cruz’s charismatic stage presence, Crashdiet definitely did themselves proud and blew the roof off The Joiners. Judging from the crowd’s reaction I think Southampton would like to see them come back soon.

Last but by certainly no means least High Wycombe rockers Jettblack take to the stage. Seeing them previously, they usually tend to bring a stadium like atmosphere to small venues and Sunday night saw just that. Opening with anthem Two Hot Girls went down so well with the crowds that the mosh pits started early on. I could tell from that moment that Jettblack were well underway. Last year they released a new album Raining Rock so it was great to hear some of the new songs played live including my personal favourites Sunshine and Prison Of Love. I should also mention they filmed the live premier of Black Gold which bought a calmer tone to the evening. It was also fantastic to hear the classics such as Get Your Hands Dirty and MotherF*****. Closing with Raining Rock and their explosive cover of Danger Zone marked the end of an explosive show.

To conclude, this sleeze, glam, hard rock fest that happened at The Joiners it was truly an experience I will remember for a very long time. All the bands were fantastic and the atmosphere was just amazing, all I can say is if Crashdiet and Jettblack ever co-headline again I highly recommend going along.

Find Hollywood Trash on Facebook

Find Western Sand on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Find Crashdiet on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Find Jettblack on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

New Device - Save Your Life

Hi there guys, it has been a while. A lot has happened in this time, I turned 21 in March, my time at uni is nearly at the end and I have been hunting for jobs. This morning I caught up with Voice.FM's rock show where the brand new single by New Device played. Save Your Life is a booming, strong single that definitely introduces listeners to what to expect on the upcoming album Here We Stand. From the familiar crisp vocals provided by charismatic vocalist Dan Leigh to the original guitar riffs from new guitarists Matt Mallery and Nick Jones, Save Your Life has the whole package of a great rock song. New Device are definitely back and they mean business. A great introduction to their upcoming album.

Here We Stand is due for release 6th May 2013, click here to pre-order the new album now.

Find New Device on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

Heaven's Basement - Filthy Empire

Britain's newest gem, Filthy Empire, from the almighty Heaven's Basement has hit the shelves this week and is wowing audiences all over.

Heaven's Basement being a personal favourite band, I have been looking forward to the release of this album for quite some time after two successful EPs. I was not disappointed at all, opening track Welcome Home was a perfect choice to open the album with. The album consists of thunderous drums, sharp guitar riffs and powerful vocals. My personal favourite track is Lights Out In London, it's very heartfelt and shows off the vocal ability from Aaron Buchanan perfectly. This album has a versatile selection of songs to suit your mood, from the acoustic ballad The Price To Pay to the heavy upbeat Fire Fire this album contains the whole package. What I also love about this new album is that it contains material from previous EPs such as The Long Goodbye and the epic anthem Executioner's Day that had been remastered completely. It works so well.

Overall a truly brilliant debut album from one of Britain's best rising rock bands that I shall be seeing live later on this evening (Sunday 10th Feb).

Stand out tracks:  Lights Out In London, Jump Back and Executioner's Day

For fans of  Guns 'N' Roses and Jettblack

Find Heaven's Basement on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

Promo work

Hello everyone, how are things? I have recently volunteered to help out at a gig taking place at my favourite music venue The Joiners on 10th February. Heaven's Basement are the headlining act so it will be a great one. I'm not quite sure what I will be doing on the night but at the moment I have been doing some promo for the event such as sharing it around (which I will do at the end of the post) and inviting friends. So without further ado if you are in the Southampton area on 10th February then buy your tickets to see Heaven's Basement, one of Britain's brilliant up and coming rock bands. 

Here is the link to the event for more details.

https://www.facebook.com/events/137998269680950/?fref=ts

My top albums of 2012

Hello everyone!!! I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while, I am now in my final year at university so I have been very busy with uni assignments and my reviews for Loud Stuff.com which is still going incredibly well. Without further a do I will list you my top five albums from the previous year!

5) We Are The Others - Delain

Get The Devil Out Of Me was the first song I heard from this album. I thought it was haunting and powerful like most of Delain's tracks usually are, it was a great album to relieve stress and calm me down as this was the album I listened to when I had finished my second year at university early last year.

4) Weapons - Lostprophets

I went to the album launch for this and rather enjoyed it. The album itself was rather good in places, considering I felt their previous album The Betrayed was quite weak compared to Liberation Transmission. So this album really suprised in terms of how anthemic some of the songs were such as We Bring An Arsenal and Better Off Dead.

3) Imaginareum (Score) - Nightwish

Alongside the release of the film a lot of Nightwish fans had the eagerly awaited the release of the score to go with it. I like how this album takes the songs from Imaginareum released a year before and made into beautiful soundtrack pieces that you just imagine what could be happening in the film. 

2) Amaryllis - Shinedown

An album that took me by absoulute surprise in 2012. I had booked a ticket to see them locally and was intrigued as I hadn't really heard them before until recently. I loved this album from beggining to end as it consists of a great collection of songs and a lot of these sounded great live. From the energy fuelled Enemies to the heartfelt I'll Follow You this album has a great package to it and it was definitely a favourite of mine in 2012.

1) Raining Rock - Jettblack

'I hear the drumming of thunder and the running of rain' is the very anthemic song lyric that will be remembered for years to come. This legendary song comes from Wycombe, hard rockers Jettblack in the for of their second album Raining Rock. I actually went to the launch for this in London and loved every minute of their show. So much in fact it made me look forward to the release a lot more. With an eccletic selection of music from the thunderous title track Raining Rock to the beautiful ballad Black Gold, Jettblack have certainly come back and they mean business. I leave you with a video of my favourite song on the album Prison Of Love.

Hi

Hello, I know it has been a while. I am now in my final year at university so the workload is huge. Alongside my work at Loud Stuff, it's been great. I would like to share with you some reviews I have written also an interview with Liv Kristine from Leaves' Eyes, Loud Stuff has been great so far. This week I have an interview set up with WOLF who are currently supporting Evile, I am looking forward to this very muchly; I saw Evile at Bloodstock and they were fantastic. It will be interesting to see them in a smaller venue.

In other news I saw Shinedown at The Guildhall too and they were amazing. They definitely became a new favourite live band.

That's all for now, I leave you with my work with Loud Stuff so far.

http://www.loud-stuff.com/liv-kristine.html
http://www.loud-stuff.com/the-watermelons.html
http://www.loud-stuff.com/leaves-eyes-live.html
http://www.loud-stuff.com/light-you-up.html

Work with Loud Stuff

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well. I have been busy reviewing new bands for website Loud Stuff, I have review many great bands so far such as Sonburst, Bankrupt and Perfect Khaos. It has been a great experience to work with them so far, it's fantastic to hear new sounds and write for somebody else other than myself has proved very challenging but fantastic so far. I will be off to Paris tomorrow morning but I shall be back with more reviews as I'll be attending Firewind's Paris show that I do plan to review, also I shall post interviews with Dendera and Liv Kristine from Leave's Eyes. Here are my reviews I have done for Loud Stuff so far:

Perfect Khaos - http://www.loud-stuff.com/perfect-khaos.html
Bankrupt - http://www.loud-stuff.com/bankrupt.html
Sonburst - http://www.loud-stuff.com/sonburst.html
Possibly Intoxicated Gents - http://www.loud-stuff.com/possibly-intoxicated-gents.html

I do hope you read them and I shall be reviewing more when I am back from Paris. I have got plenty of gigs planned and hope to be interviewing a lot more musicians in the next coming months!!