David Giles @ The Railway Inn; Winchester 12/2/12

I had heard of Essex born singer songwriter David Giles via my boyfriend and I was told he was due to play in Winchester, the nearest town to home to watch him. I had heard his songs briefly and thought they were very cleverly written in the way they relate to modern day society. Particularly via the song Confessions Of A Facebook Stalker where I thought it was a great song to relate to a lot of people today who use Facebook on a day to day basis. I got there quite early since I had an interview set up with him; it was great watching soundcheck, I felt it was a fantastic opportunity to see what happens behind the scenes of gigs. The interview with Dave went splendidly and you will see this interview posted another day.

His set was particularly mesmerising and it was the busiest I had seen Winchester's Railway Inn for a while; entering the venue once it was a bit more full I got given a free shortbread biscuit from the merchandising team which is particularly unique and different to any other gig I have been to. I loved the happy go lucky vibe he brought to the venue; he looked rather fetching in a monkey hat combined with the English gentlemen look. Their cover of boyband Five's Keep On Moving was classic; it was fantastic to hear a completely different rendition of a song that was a big highlight of my childhood. Dave mentioned in his interview that he wants people to remember the gig and want to come back for more; can definitely say I will be making another trip to one of Dave's gigs again soon.

Here's a video from the gig that was filmed that he posted today; click here to view it

Kerrang! Tour @ Southampton Guildhall 7/2/2012

Wow it has been a while since I posted; well I'll tell you all about what I did last night.

I was familiar with how successful the Kerrang! Tour had been in the past and how people attend it every single year since it started in 2006. Last night I had experienced my first Kerrang! Tour gig at Southampton Guildhall where bands New Found Glory, The Blackout, Letlive and While She Sleeps were this years line up.

First entering the Guildhalls and vaguely hearing opening act While She Sleeps I wasn’t overly keen at first since it seemed more like noise than music. However as the set progressed their tunes began to grow on me a bit. Their energetic stage presence was a great crowd pleaser as it passes onto the crazy rockers, this performance definitely gave me a good insight of what was to come on this vastly popular tour.

I had heard of second Letlive via my boyfriend, Pete, and remember listening to the briefly but that’s all. As Pete and his best friend Chris ran into the crowd to watch them I took a step back just to watch from a distance what their stage presence consisted of. I was very taken by frontman Jason Butler’s stage presence entirely; pushing the boundaries by leaping into the crowd and standing on top of the speakers. I soon realised that I wanted to be a part of that experience so I went and joined the crowd which was the best place to be. Near the end of the set I was very taken aback when he went onto the balcony and walked across it; definitely one of the best live bands I have seen so far. 

I was very familiar of how popular The Blackout were; filling in for Sum 41 due to serious injury The Blackout stepped in as co-headliner that night for the Kerrang! tour. Being Pete’s favourite band of all time I think I definitely had my time listening to all sorts of songs by the Welsh rockers. Opening with the song I’m A Riot? You’re a F****** riot worked quite well; saying to the crowd beforehand ‘Sorry we’re not Sum 41’ amused me quite a bit. I was highly impressed with The Blackout’s performance; despite nearly getting beaten in the pits I was still able to enjoy their set. Performing personal favourites This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things and Save Ourselves (The Warning) put a smile on my face. One thing I have learned about The Blackout is that vocalist Gavin and drummer Snoz really like my strawberry hat.

Headliners New Found Glory, who are hailed the godfathers of pop punk by Letlive, from last night’s performance I can definitely see why. It was also a great introduction of this band that have made their mark in the Kerrang! history since I had not listened to them before last night. I loved their songs very muchly, I also enjoyed their covers of Kiss Me and Basket Case; will definitely start listening to New Found Glory after last night’s show.

I conclude that my first experience of the Kerrang! Tour was a rather enjoyable one indeed; the atmosphere, the bands and fans made the night worthwhile and I would love to go to another Kerrang! Tour.

Tuomaslotte Rating:  TTTTT

Happy New Year and Introducing.........

Hello everyone and happy new year to you all. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. I also thought at the beginning of each year I would write a post about new bands that could possibly make a breakthrough in the upcoming year. 2012 has definitely been a great start for me so far as I passed my driving test last Friday and have already come across some musical talents. So here are some bands that have really stood out this year and that you should definitely look out for in 2012. Click on the titles to access their Facebook pages.


Krash Rover


A dirty grunge rock band who hail from Texas; sort of trailing on Southern bluesy rocks like their Kentucky brothers Black Stone Cherry I think Krash Rover could just be the next grunge band to come out of Southern America and make it big. Hope to see them over here across the pond sometime and to hear more from them.

Simon Says


First hearing about them at university this year I thought it would be great to check them out at The Royal Oak in Southampton. Not only did I find another favourite venue to add to my list, I also came across a fantastic band who have really done well considering they started making music together a couple of months ago. I think 2012 could just be their year; their happy go lucky acoustic sounds have already charmed local audiences in Southampton so far and I think they could get the whole nation to sing 'Peanut butter Jelly'.

The Treatment


I first heard about Cambridge hard rockers The Treatment whilst reading an article about them in their 'Introducing' section and I saw they suggested fans of Aerosmith would like them so I thought I would have a listen. I immediately loved their album This Might Hurt and they pulled off a fantastic live performance, this particular one made it to the top of my best live shows of 2011. I also had the amazing opportunity to find out more about them as I interviewed them this year.

Click here to listen to my interview with The Treatment


Velvatine

Hayling Island rockers were one of the opening support acts for The Treatment when they performed on the Southampton date. I was highly impressed by their enthusiasm and their talent; their appearance reminded me of either Marc Bolan or Heavens Basement but their sound reminded me of AC/DC. I really think that Velvetine will shine more in 2012; only really having heard the band once this year I would really love to use 2012 to get to know Velvetine a bit more. Their performance at The Joiners was a great first encounter.




Western Sand


First coming across four piece rock band from Bournemouth at the Heaven's Basement/Jettblack gig. Hearing their music mostly through live shows I have really been captured by the bluesy rock sounds from Western Sand. It would be great to see more of them during the new year, including a brand new album that I have yet to hear. 

Well there you have the list of bands to look out for in 2012; I shall also be using Tumblr to write reviews this year

Merry Christmas

Hello everyone


What a fantastic year 2011 has been; new friends, new adventures and most importantly new music. Lots of fantastic new bands, incredible live shows and much much more; keep your eyes peeled for my 'Introducing...' post that gives you information on the bands to keep a look out for in 2012. Anyways this will be my last post for this year; I wish you all a very merry Christmas and thank you all for the continuing support for this blog.


I shall leave you with some of my favourite Christmas songs.


Take care
Tuomaslotte

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.

Interview with The Treatment

After watching The Treatment perform a fantastic live set at The Joiners, Southampton I was more than happy to interview them. It was a fantastic experience; was a little bit nervous at first but then I suddenly felt more relaxed as the interview progressed. I liked to think it was a new challenge to me; would love to thank The Treatment for taking some time to do the interview, particularly guitarist Ben Brookland for giving me some useful advice and Jodie Newman for arranging the interview. I would also like to apologise to drummer Dhani Mansworth for getting his name wrong at the very beginning; rookie error. 

Click here to listen to the interview

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

I have realised that I so far for the past three years I have made at least one trip to The Joiners at the end of the year so far; as I have mentioned in previous posts that The Joiners is in fact my favourite music venue in Southampton as a lot of Britain's best upcoming bands tend to perform at this venue. Tonight it was the turn of Cambridge hard rockers The Treatment to take the stage; The Treatment have been a great highlight in the music industry so I was really eager to see what their live performance would contain. I also found last night proved to be a fantastic life changing step in the terms of music journalling and I shall explain why later.

The first band to play were Delirium; who are a rock band from Dorset. I thought they were a very interesting opening act to pick for The Treatment since they had a more grungy sort of sound, a lot like an Alice In Chains I thought. I thought their set overall was fairly average; I might have to see them again, I think they may grow on me after a while.

Find Delirium on Facebook and their official website

Velvatine were next to play; young aspiring rockers from Hayling Island whose sound reminded me of Heaven's Basement jamming with AC/DC. They really gave it their all last night, their songs were great and they showed a lot of energy in their performance; I found they reminded me of a popular band at my secondary school years ago and it just made me feel really warm inside.  I do hope to see and hear more from Velvatine in the near future.

Find Velvatine on Facebook

I was very happy when I had heard Western Sand had got the main support slot for the gig last night; I can honestly say here today I have seen them a number of times this year and last night was definitely their best show yet. I loved how they opened up with soundtrack music which I had never seen them do before until now and I think they really showed main support act material with the amount of energy they gave. They sounded fantastic too and I really do hope to see them in the new year very soon. 

Find Western Sand on Facebook and Twitter

For headliners The Treatment it was their first time playing in Southampton last night and was incredibly happy when they said they'll return. I had heard The Treatment's album This Might Hurt and really liked it, you'll see it's on my top ten albums of 2011, like I mentioned earlier I was really eager to see them live. What an amazing show it was; opening up with their single D****, F*****,F****** I could see it really got the crowds at The Joiners pumping. Playing other great songs such as Shake My Mountain, The Doctor and my personal favourite Just Tell Me Why to the utmost perfection and with so much passion I could definitely see why the Cambridge hard rockers bring such big crowds. I was also so stunned and excited when promoter and good friend Jodie Newman arranged an interview with The Treatment too, which you will see and hear in a later post, guitarist Tag Grey mentions in this certain interview they see themselves playing at Wembley Arena in five years time and after watching them last night I think so too.

Find The Treatment on Facebook

Tuomaslotte rates: TTTTT