Top 10 Live shows of 2011: 5-1

Here is my top five live shows of 2011;

5. Jenna's Revenge @ The Joiners; Southampton 13/11/2011

This particular gig marked the long awaited return from Gosport hard rockers Jenna's Revenge; after Simon 'Sic' McLaren left the band in March this year it took the rest of Jenna's months to find a new vocalist. However Sic decided he missed Jenna's so much that he decided to make a return; me and best friend Becca were so excited for this that she made them a welcome back cake that I carried. Although note to self; think about transportation of the cake before hand. It was a fantastic show none the less; Sic's energetic stage antics, some classic rock and a very tasty cake made the evening perfect for the return of one of the southern coasts greatest rock bands. 

Find Jenna's Revenge on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

4. Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry and Theory Of A Deadman @ Wembley Arena; London 29/11/2011

Three of the greatest grunge bands from across the pond playing under one roof for one night was one of the greatest gigs I have seen this year; all three of them performed fantastic sets. Will have to try and get the DVD of that gig; so many cameras were there to capture one of the most anticipated gigs of 2011. Unfortunately I lost mine at that gig but I will still have the fantastic memories of being part of the crowd.

Find Alter Bridge on Facebook, Twitter and their official website
Find Black Stone Cherry on Facebook, Twitter and their official website
Find Theory Of A Deadman on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

3. Heaven's Basement and Jettblack @ The Talking Heads; Southampton 19/5/2011

This for me was definitely one of the most anticipating local gigs I had been waiting since I bought the ticket a few months in advance; two of my new favourite bands of last year coming together to co-headline a UK tour. The venue was packed full of Southampton's rockers young and old, the bands all performing fantastic live sets and the general atmosphere was incredible. I would certainly say this was one of the best gigs of 2011.

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

2. Turisas @ Southampton University 15/11/2011

It was incredibly tricky to choose a top two gigs but I have placed Turisas second place; it was such an incredible experience to become one with all the metal heads of Southampton that very evening and Turisas performed a fantastic live set that got the crowd pumping with excitement. Support acts Kiaus and Chtonic also performed well; possibly the best night of metal took place in Southampton and I enjoyed every second of it.

Find Turisas on Facebook, Twitter and their official website

1. The Treatment @ The Joiners; Southampton 11/12/2011

The Treatment's performance at The Joiners easily had to be my best live show of 2011; purely because their presence on stage was full of energy and passion, the atmosphere was exciting and interviewing them was one of the most amazing experiences of my music journalling so far. The Treatment certainly know how to please the crowd and they sound incredible live. They were all so friendly and they made me laugh; cannot wait to see them live again next year with Jettblack and Reckless Love.

Find The Treatment on Facebook

Here's to more fantastic live shows in the new year; there you have my top ten shows of 2011.

Jenna's Revenge @ The Firehouse, Southampton 12/2/11

The Firehouse is a relatively new venue for me this year, it is Southampton's rock and metal bar with the loudest jukebox, lively warm atmosphere and friendly staff. For the first time I was to see a gig there, I have known for a while that the venue shows live bands so I was looking forward to it a lot. The bands that played last night were Section21 and Jenna's Revenge.

Section21 were first to play that evening, I didn't have a clue about who they were or what they sounded like so I was very intrigued by their sound. I thought they sounded very much like Led Zeppelin with a hint of Jimi Hendrix; my best friend from college Candy mentioned the guitarist being particulalry brilliant that I agreed with. I think that's where the hint of Jimi Hendrix comes from, it also reminded me of Santana too. In fact they were so good that when they were performing soundcheck me and a friend thought it was their actual performance. Catchy melodies and rocky vocals definately get my thumbs up, I hope to hear more from them soon.

Find Section21 on Facebook, Reverbnation and check out their official website

Headliners Jenna's Revenge were next and last to play that evening, I had seen them before at The Joiners and distinctly remembered the energetic stage presence that was passed onto the audience. Even when they sang a 50's Rock 'N' Roll stylised song there was headbanging in the crowd. Unfortunately wasn't enough people for the mosh pyramid like last time but it was still a fantastic set to rock out too. This was also their penultimate gig; not for the whole band but just for vocalist Sic as he is to move to Prague. I think it was a last performance to remember forever and a day because he gave it his absoulute all whether it as standing on a chair or sitting on the ground singing to my best friend. The music was top notch once again, some of those songs on their album Top Hotel sounded quality live and recognised a few including my favourite June '79. 

Be sure check out Jenna's Revenge official website and you can also find them on Facebook, MySpace and Reverbnation. Follow them on Twitter.

Overall brilliant set from both bands, warm lively atmosphere and generally a night I will never ever forget. I think that'll be because of the energy from the crowd and the love that was in the room that night. Also say goodbye to Sic when he leaves for Prague and all the best of luck in the future.

Jenna's Revenge - Top Hotel

I bought this CD at Dear Superstar's gig at The Joiners; it happened to be the CD lauch band of Porstmouth rockers Jenna's Revenge so I bought their new one Top Hotel. Opening track June '79 was very very intriguing; it opened with some sort of orchestral intrumental, meaning when the heavy distorted guitars kicked in it did catch me off guard. The wide variety of different styles in their music also kept my ears pricked; you had very jumpy Van Halen/Led Zeppelin like songs such as Take Your Chances and Mentally Hilarious, you also had the more bluesy and softer tracks such as Hold Together and Lego Man. I must say I was incredibly touched by the song Lego Man; I loved how this ballad was about love but not between a boy and girl but between a child and his toy it nearly made me cry. The piano and vocal part also was a beautiful touch. 

Whether it was a distorted energetic song or a heartfelt ballad the album has every single element of old skool metal. The catchy guitar riffs, spine chillingly great vocals and Led Zepplin like guitar solos; can definately see these guys at the O2 arena in a few years time.

Stand out Tracks:  June '79, Glad You Came and Lego Man

Dear Superstar @ The Joiners; Southampton 10/12/10

It was suprising really; on my way to The Joiners Radio 2 was playing in the car. It was a jungle themed hour so there were songs from The Jungle Book and others about hippos and crocodiles yet after to listening to it I still felt in the mood to rock. I has also finished Santa's helper duty so I was feeling particularly estatic about this particular gig since two of my favourites were to be there.....Dear Superstar and Jettblack.

I arrived at The Joiners when I heard the first band Ancient Shamans playing so I went through to the stage area. I could tell a lot of their songs had Native American influences behind it and to put that with AC/DC like guitar riffs and Black Stone Cherry style vocals is just incredible; titles such as Wild Horses and intrumentals that reminded me of the film Pocohontas. Vocalist/Bassist Sam Ashton could easily be the next Micheal Balzary a.k.a Flea from the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers with his killer bass playing skills. Overall great set and truly energetic performance.

Ancient Shamans homepage

Now I had only heard one sample on MySpace by Jenna's Revenge and liked it; so I was intrigued what they had to offer. Jumpy, fun and melodic guitar riffs were only just the beginning to this band's remarkable set once vocalist Sic was heard the set was complete. His passion and energy reminded me very much of Jack Black; he even sounded like Jack Black as he sang. At this point the crazy rockers started the mosh pit, which I got caught in....well joined in with. It happened to be Jenna's Revenge CD Launch tonight as well which was more than perfect; as you can guess I bought their new CD that you will see a post about soon. Oh one more thing I must mention is that during the last few minutes of this performance a pyramid of moshers was made; this was definately an epic sighting in my rock gig encounters and hopefully will see again.

Jenna's Revenge homepage

Jettblack were the band I was looking forward to seeing the most that night; excitedly waiting whilst they performed sound checks, I don't think being hyper from drinking a pint of Diet Coke calmed me down either. Once the sound checks had been done and they were in starting performance position the chants started; 'JETTBLACK! JETTBLACK! JETTBLACK' was heard throughout The Joiners particularly from the crazy moshers. After successfully opening with Slip It On Jettblack were well under way. I bought their album back in October so I was looking forward to most of the songs being performed; the anthems Two Hot Girls and Get Your Hands Dirty were performed to the utmost perfection and Not Even Love bought a tamer tone to the evening. Closing the set with a cover of 80s anthem Dangerzone which was requested by the fans was just fantastic. They definately brought a stadium like vibe to a small music venue and meeting them afterwards was just an awesome experience; they were more than happy to sign a picture,be in a photo with me and just generally chatting. I shall definately be hoping to see them live again in the new year.

Jettblack homepage

I hadn't heard much from Manchester hard rockers Dear Superstar until only recently. I was at the bar when they were performing soundchecks and talking to two lovely girls I had met during Jettblack's set. I heard the first chord Dear Superstar's opening song and rushed in; the music area wasn't full of many people as Jettblack but in some ways that was a good thing. Straight to the front to get the best possible photos, not feeling claustrophobic and interaction with lead vocalist Mickey Satiar (who I had met at the bar earlier....lovely lovely man). Watching him on stage he definately owned it with his energetic prescence and charisma; it was also so wonderful to know that a song means that much to the artist when they performed the ever epic Live Love Lie. I thought sounded better live than on the CD; they also performed a lot of new ones from their upcoming album, which will be released next year. Anthems of the night Brink Of Destruction and Brothers In Blood were definately performed very very well too, got the crowd energetically showing appreciation by singing along and jumping to the music. Overall Dear Superstar definately pulled off a rather outstanding set; a lot better than I thought they would be. I met the rest of Dear Superstar afterwards; Amadeus (WHAT AN AWESOME NAME), Benj and Stew, wonderful guys who I had a photo with. I didn't care that they were sweaty....I love sweaty rockers :P. Unfortunately didn't get to meet Adam but hopefully next time. Look forward to seeing you in 2011 guys and can't wait for the new album.

Dear Superstar homepage 

This night reminded me why The Joiners is my favourite music venue in Southampton; all the bands that night created a lively, energetic atmosphere with lots of love and it's one of few venues I've been to where every band gets the crowd moving. It certainly happened last night and in all honesty this was definately the best gig of 2010. This is the first post I have added photos to.