Merry Christmas

Hi guys, this will be my last blog post of the year......well I only started this blog a couple of months ago but yeah last post of 2010. 2010 has just been an awesome year for music; lots of new and up coming bands I have listened to, bought lots of great albums and the gigs have been amazing. I'm sure I will see a lot more in 2011 from bands I now know about from this year; new EPs/albums and more live shows. I also know what new material from bands I have loved for a long time to look forward to as well; new albums from Nightwish, Within Temptation and Black Stone Cherry, gigs from Sonata Arctica (hopefully), Black Label Society and hopefully many more.

Thanks so much for reading my blog; I also would love thank the boys from bands In Darklight, Requiem For The Dead, More Than Conquerors and Jenna's Revenge for posting my reviews on their newsletter/website/Facebook page etc.

I'll leave you with some of what I think the best Christmas songs EVER!!!!! Merry Christmas from Tuomaslotte and see you again in 2011 with more reviews of fantastic music.

Grinspoon - Alibis and Other Lies

I originally wasn't going to review this album but from the beginning it just had me hooked so I had to write about it. First off opening tracks Black Tattoo and Choir Boy were just fantastic; great rhythm, catchy melodies and cleverly written lyrics. The song Choir Boy reflects on how a lot of musicians start out either in a choir or an orchestra and this song says a lot on how they're expected to sing songs of Jesus, religious things etc but then rebel. I love those stories in songs. As well as fast paced energetic tracks that keep you awake first thing in the morning before you go to work there were the nice acoustic songs such as Minute By Minute and Leave It, bring a much more tranquil vibe to the album. I also admired how closing track Find Your Own Way had a sort of outback theme going on with the western style beat, harmonicas and ear friendly happy chords. This works since this band are from Australia. I'll be seeing these guys at The Wedgewood Rooms next year so looking forward to that; by then I will have all their songs to listen to on the day of the gig. What I like to do on the night of a gig; have the band/s I'm seeing playing non stop on my iPod whenever I can that way the songs are fresh in my mind.

Stand Out Tracks:  Choir Boy, What You Get and Leave It

Orias

This post is about Swedish Orchestral metal heads Orias, I had heard their song Out In The Wilderness that won first place in a competition taking place on Tuomas Holopainen's official website. I decided to listen to this composition, there was definately a haunting vibe and it definately reminded me of the dramatic side of nature. I love those songs that were influenced by nature, being a lover of the great outdoors myself. Northern Europe has a lot of it. Right now listening to heartfelt Last Tear via MySpace showing these guys are very versatile with their music and I've only heard two songs by them; I'm very much hoping they release an EP and make a trip to the UK.

For fans of:  Nightwish and Tarot

Click here for more info about the band

Tuomaslotte's Best Live Shows of 2010

This year I saw quite a lot of local gigs which is nice since you're not spending so much money for an big arena gig and trying to get to the venue somewhere that seems like a distant land to you. Here they are in chronological order :D

Lostprohets @ Southampton Guildhall 26/2/2010 - I have been a fan of Lostprophets since Liberation Transmission so I was estatic when I heard they will be coming to Southampton Guildhall to do a live show; even though me and my cousin were seated we still had an awesome time listening to the music. When favourites such as It's Not The End Of The World, Burn Burn and Town Called Hypocrisy we were singing a long like mad. I was suprised but mega chuffed that they performed my ever favourite Lostprophets song Can't Catch Tomorrow. I've just found that one of the support acts were Kids In Glass Houses; after seeing a fantastic live set from them I hope to hear more from them. Hope to see Lostprophets again real soon.

HIM and Dommin @ Bournemouth O2 Academy 18/3/10 - I will say now I am a massive fan of the goth rock scene; dark lyrics with haunting melodies that send shivers down your spine I just love it. Anyways I went to this gig by myself but when I entered the venue I completely forgot about that since I loved warm welcoming vibe the O2 Academy brought; I went to buy some merchandise first before finding the best possible spot to see the bands. Once I did the lights went down for the first band Dommin were due to play first; I had only heard a few songs by Dommin that I really loved so I was looking forward to their set. The smoke made their entrance mysterious, which say a lot about the band, soon the drums were heard; the opening song New was about to play. This entrance was definately one of the best I had seen; they then played one favourite song after another. My Heart Your Hands, Tonight and personal favourite Dark Holiday all performed beautifully. Their closing number I Just Died (In Your Arms Tonight) was just fantastic; the whole crowd were singing along. Waiting for HIM patiently my excitement was gradually buiding up; those particular moments where you are waiting for a band you love to come on stage just make you realise how much you actually love the band. Suddenly the last went to down; my excitement was almost ready to be released. A love song from the 50s played which at the end of HIM appeared and the first few bars of Like St Valentine were heard. From that I knew HIM were well underway. It was truly a wonderful wonderful set; they played classics such as Kiss Of Dawn, Wings Of A Butterfly and Funeral of Hearts along with new album ones such as Heartkiller, Scared To Death and Love The Hardest Way. It was during HIM's set I had met the band Dommin which was amazing; they were so lovely and down to earth. This was definately a magical concert with two brilliant bands.

The Bon Jovi Experience @ The Brooke; Southampton 14/8/10 - This was a couple of months after I had seen Bon Jovi at The O2 Arena. I thought this was a great way to spend a night out with the girls; a lively warm venue, a bar and a band playing tribute to world wide superstars who still rule the earth today with anthemic hits since It's My Life, You Give Love A Bad Name, Bed Of Roses and the show stopper Livin On A Prayer. The lights went down and the girls started to scream, it was as if Bon Jovi were appearing on stage since the frontman looked so much like Jon Bon Jovi. One anthemic hit after another this night will definately be one I will never ever forget.

New Device @ The Edge Of The Wedge; Portsmouth 15/9/10 - One of my bands of 2010 and hope to see more of in the new year; this gig was my second time seeing them after an outstanding set at The Soul Cellar in Southampton. Wondering down a lonely street trying to find this intimate cosy venue was definately worth it; it was this night where I watched and listened to the south's best up an coming bands. With the likes of MG & The Juggernaughts jumpy, bouncy guitar solos, Toxic Shock's sucessful debut, The Light Divided's melodic, heartfelt tunes and New Device's energetic performance were all enough to make this gig one of Tuomaslotte's best live shows of 2010.



In Darklight @ The Hobbit; Southampton 8/10/10 - Another one of my bands of 2010; seeing them at the same Soul Cellar gig as New Device and loving what they had to offer I went to any gig I could get to. This one will always stick out in my mind as being one of the best with their fresh indie boy look and sound. I loved this enjoyable set of alternative, experimental rock songs that you can just hum to and it's amazing these guys also took a few minutes to sign the album I had bought along. Along with other bands from their record label Angry Badger they are one of the south's best up and coming bands; I think this gives them a great start for 2011. 

Dear Superstar @ The Joiners; Southampton 10/12/10 - I wrote a review about this recently; I meant it when I said this was the best gig of 2010 for me. Everything about this gig was just amazing; the lively warm atmosphere, each band performed a distinguished performance and a lot of pleasant people. It was also at this gig where I saw a sight that will definately make history of fans ways to get the attention of bands; the ultimate mosh pyramid, a human pyramid made up of those crazy rockers who moshed to Jenna's Revenge.

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

Tuomaslotte's bands of 2010

Here's a post dedicated to the bands that have become my favourites this year, in no particular order here they are:

New Device:  This year a friend told me these guys were to support Bon Jovi at the O2 so she sent me their video for the song Takin Over, which I loved. I decided to download the album from Amazon; I had seen reviews about these guys saying they sounded like Guns 'N' Roses, Van Halen etc and I thought 'Wow great influences there'. The album was so so good, unfortunately I missed them at The O2 but I got to see them twice this year locally in Southampton and Portsmouth. They put on a fantastic live performance, lots of energy and passion behind it; also they are possibly one of the nicest bunch of guys you could ever meet. Looking forward to the new album guys. 

Jettblack:  I was in my looking for new bands to listen to mode and came across these guys. I think it was via the video for Two Hot Girls; it made me feel awesome, the song is energetic, sexy.....basically so darn good. This song is on their debut album Get Your Hands Dirty; which is one of my albums of 2010. Their live performance at The Joiners was just incredible; most of the songs sounded amazing live, most of their stage moves reminded me a lot of a stadium rock band and finishing with Dangerzone was definately a great suprise. They are also a lovely bunch when I met them at the bar afterwards.

Poets Of The Fall:  My friend Charlotte (a.k.a Marcolotte) sent me the song Lift by this band via Facebook; liked it so so much that I downloaded the song. I listen to this song at least a few times every day; I downloaded the rest of the album which was also incredible. Marko's voice is truly wonderful, his voice emphasises with the emotions in the songs very well. My favourites by this band are Dreaming Wide Awake, Lift, Illusion and Dream and Carnival Of Rust. Carnival Of Rust particularly since it has influenced me greatly with the story I am writing for part of my course at university. The video is very surreal and powerful like a lot of their other videos.
 

In Darklight:  I first saw these guys at The Soul Cellar with New Device; they were the first band to play and was entirely impressed. So impressed that I immediately signed their mailing list after the show and pre-ordered their debut album; loved the album as I've mentioned in previous posts. Also sparking up a great friendship with these guys too; we've kept in touch and I have been to more of their shows ever since. I have seen them four times in the past few months (no I don't want a medal :P) Hope to see more of them next year and looking forward to the new EP.

Heaven's Basement:  I decided to give Can't Let You Go a listen, which I loved a lot so I downloaded the rest of their EP. The songs that stood out for me were Fear Of Getting Off, Executioner's Day and Graduation; these particular songs were incredibly catchy. Bit like 80s metal songs you hear a lot. Unfortunately missed these guys at The Joiners due to the fact I found these guys way after that hopefully they'll do a UK tour next year.

Dommin:  If I'm right Dommin were the first of my 2010 findings back in late January early February and have been a favourite of 2010 ever since. I started to look for this band's music when I heard they were to support HIM on their UK tour; the first thing I do when I find out the support band. It's straight to YouTube, type the name of the band in the 'Search' box and you click on the first link. This particular first link lead me to My Heart Your Hands; the first enticingly haunting song I listened to by this band. With that in mind I found more and more of their songs, all of which I really loved. They put on such a spell bindingly brilliant live performance too, in my opinion they were a bit better than HIM but I'm glad I walked out of Bournemouth O2 Academy a Dommin fan that night. I also had the opportunity to meet them too; they didn't mind me coming over more than once. All such lovely guys; hope to see them in the new year.

Uniklubi:  Another band from Finland that have stood out to me this year, they sing in their native lannguage that does not stop me listening to them. I love the melodies these guys produce; they are very very versatile whether it'd be a mellow acoustic track such as Kukka or a hauntingly heavy track such as Huomenna. Finland's metal heads are also well known for being incredibly gourgeous; in my eyes anyway but of course it's not about the appearances it's about the beautiful music they write.


We Are The Fallen:  I am always interested when there is a female fronted metal band on the scene, I can't stress how big my respect is for female musicians. Considering the music industry particularly rock is usually male dominated so it's brilliant to see female faces in the picture. Anyways this band popped up on Dommin radio on Last.FM and loved the song that played; I think it was called St John, immediately downloaded the album from iTunes. Carly Smitheson's voice has more beauty than a priceless diamond sitting on a velvet cushion behind glass in a jewellery shop, it complements well with the heavy distorted guitars and in the softer tracks an elegant piano. Hope they travel across the pond to the UK sometime.

Dear Superstar:  I saw that these guys were to play a gig at The Joiners so I listened to Brothers In Blood; to be honest I didn't really like it at first but after hearing the track a few times it grew on me. Heartless is a great album; Brink Of Destruction, Signposts to Bedpost and Live, Love Lie were few of many tracks that I loved on that album. Like Heaven's Basement and New Device these guys were influenced by 80s rock giants and I could hear the same kind of melodic guitar riffs and easy on the ears vocals. Their energetic live performance will also be something that will stick out in my mind definately and lovely lovely guys. Hope to see them in the new year and look forward to the new album.

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.