Stone Sour: The band I’d most like to see in the UK (again)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Article By Ellen Fairbairn

Ever since November 2^nd 2010 there has been one band that I would give my left arm to see live again: the magnificent Stone Sour. After tearing apart the O2 Academy the night before, to say they left a lasting impression would be a great understatement. Although I intentionally went to see Avenged Sevenfold, as they were co-headlining and, don’t get me wrong, they put on one hell of a show, it was in fact the other half of the mammoth line up that stole the show for me.

             Normally, after seeing a band live it would seem almost natural for me to loose some sort of interest as the ‘height of obsession’, so to speak, was reached, but there was something about Stone Sour that made me want to keep coming back for more. Their crowd participation and all round good sportsmanship showed them to be a somewhat more down-to-earth group of people than the OrangeCountymetalers. Shown in particular by Corey Taylor’s good humour of standing outside of the Academy to meet and greet practically the entirety of the ever growing line for what seemed like hours when all he wanted was a cheeky cigarette. I was lucky enough to get a quick photo, and to say I’ve met the legendary Corey Taylor, a guy that I’ve idolised since I was old enough to listen to Slipknot without being terrified, has been something I’ve taken pride in ever since.

             Initially I didn’t expect great things from Stone Sour, nor did I care if they were actually any good at all. From the age of 14 I developed a small obsession with Avenged Sevenfold, so needless to say, to hear that they were playing the O2 was the highlight of my year. Through the daze of guitar solos, sleeveless t-shirts and Synister Gate’s perfectly quaffed hair, I slowly but surely stumbled upon Stone Sour. Although they were almost a side thought, so I at least knew what to expect when they bounded to the stage before my heroes, I grew to like them in the months prior to the night, but the way which they performed completely blew me away. With the notorious viciousness ofTaylor’s wild performance and all of the ferocity of Slipknot’s guitar work from Jim Root. However without the famous masks it was a more subtle and melodic kick in the teeth.       

 Since that night and with the bruises already long developed faded, and  I’ve been keeping my eyes and ears open for any hint that they might come back ever since. Sadly, with two fifths of the band preoccupied with a farewell tour, hopes of another appearance from the Iowan quintet don’t appear to be on the cards for a while. So all I need to do now is wait, sit patiently and bide my time with fingers and toes crossed until the day of their fateful return, so they can once more wreak havoc across the seemingly quiet streets of Newcastle city centre.

Oceans Between Us: Monday 7th May 2012

Article By Scott Johnson

I start the night by heading to the gig at 7pm the venue was small it was a pub called Trillians in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, the first band was on at 7.15pm.

 Far From Breathless

 The first band was my friends’ band Far From Breathless, their set was 5 songs long, the atmosphere was boring but was starting to pick up half way through their set. Their last two songs were not finished properly, they didn’t have any lyrics but the rest of the songs were unreal.

 Vocalist Aaron Outterside was amazing. Why? Well he can scream so well. Once finished they received a good reception from the crowd.

 Cities on Fire

 They got the crowd moving a little bit more than Far From Breathless. Although they may have seemed shattered after 3 songs – their vocals were still producing really good music especially with their breakdowns.

 Too Close For Comfort

 A post-hardcore band with plenty of passion. At first the atmosphere was rather boring due to the lack of movement from the crowd. However I was relieved to finally see some action as their set progressed.

 Their breakdowns were typical and normal; the end of their set was good. In the end everyone started to shout with the singer.

 Sacred Betrayal

 The next band were Scared Betrayal, who were the main support of the night. They are a heavy band known for their vocals and insane breakdowns. They have amazing connection with the crowd and they had everyone moving to the music.

 Their 3rd song made everyone start to mosh with the lead singer. The cover Party Rock Anthem was simple, brilliant and fantastic to say the least. In my opinion they had such an amazing stage presence which gave them a special chemistry between the crowd.

 Oceans Between Us

 A band with the perfect stage presence and make the crowd go wild.  Their unique sound gives them the edge – a combination of amazing breakdowns and  insane drumming skills, which only increases the adrenaline of the audience.

 The pits are massive and have the entire crowd involved and with everyone joining in the singing the atmosphere is even better. The lead singer lets people sing along through the mic, which makes the crowd go wild to provide more pitting.

 At the end of the third song the guitarist strings snap for playing too hard and they have to stop for 5 minutes whilst he gets a new guitar. The vocalist form Sacred Betrayal did guest vocals for one of Oceans Between Us songs it was an amazing.

 The guest appearance made the song so much better than the original.

The ending to their show was so perfect, they had the entire crowd pumped up and everyone most likely came out battered and bruised from the pits.

 The whole of the night was worth the £5 I spent and I would definitely go see all the bands again.

 Huge respect to Far From Breathless, Cities On Fire, Too Close For Comfort, Sacred Betrayal and last but not least Oceans Between Us. If I could relive this night I would do this every night!

A Typical Day In Band Practice

A Typical Day at Band Practice

By Ryan Howe

I’m Ryan Howe and I’m in a band called Dear Veronica and I love it, everyone in the band are too kind to each other, we always talk, we have the same sense of humour and we meet up to have a general day not just always about the band, I didn’t know 3 of the members before I joined the band but now they’re all my best mates and our age group is from 14-20 years old!

The band members are:

Jake Richardson – Screamer

Ben Davis- Vocalist

Liam Stuart Dickson- Guitar

Daniel James Cliff- Guitar

Ryan Howe (Me)- Bass

Jeffrey Baker- Drums

Every day we go on Facebook or text and organise what time people can make a band practice, write songs, talk about gigs, talk about other bands, ticket sales and arrange when to meet up to go somewhere like the beach or town.

Anyway on the day of practice I get all off my guitar, leads, pedals, money, paper and pen packed then head off to where we practice (Sound Inc in Blaydon) our practice is normally for 2 hours and there’s usually always someone late to get to band practice so when everyone is set up and waiting for the other person the smokers go out for a tab… once everyone is there and set up we pick a song to warm up and to get used of playing together again, then we go through all our songs over and over again and change them if we need/ want to, then we talk about any gigs and about general things, we do have a disagreement every so often about whether to change a song or cover a certain song so it isn’t always great, there can be proper horrible parts, but the majority of the time it’s so much fun!

I’d advise anyone to get a band as you make contacts with other bands, make new friends and play gigs together and there is nothing better than creating amazing music!

As a band we are all looking forward to the future and are looking forward to releasing our EP which we try to sort out at band practice, during playing songs we usually mess around and have a laugh and I just love it so much!

Bury Tomorrow

Review  By Ryan Howe

 Bury Tomorrow are a Metal core 5 piece band from Hampshire in England, they have been together since 2006 and have got very far in the past 6 years! The members of the band are:

Dani Winter-Bates: Vocalist

Mehdi Vismara –: Guitarist

Jason Cameron: Guitarist and Singer

Davyd Winter-Bates: Bassist

Adam Jackson- Drummer

The band formed in 2006 with members from both Portsmouthand Southampton with bassist Davyd and Daniel both being brothers. Shortly after their formation they released a debut extended play ‘The Sleep of the Innocents’

In October 2009 ‘Portraits’ (their debut album) was released through Basick Records!

My favorite songs by Bury Tomorrow are:

You & I

Lionheart

Relief

Royal Blood

On the 8^th of September Bury Tomorrow released the first single out of their second album called ‘Lionheart’ (personally my favorite song of them all) then on September 13^th they created the music video!A couple of days before Bury Tomorrows headline tour (tour started on 8^th December) they released a music video directed by Thomas Welsh for their song ‘Royal Blood’ on the 6^th December!

The You and I music video was recorded at Southampton Solent University and featured Bury Tomorrow performing to around 200 fans, the video was shot over the a space of of two days, with the second day focusing on the band performing. ‘You and I’ was broadcast on MTV2 in the United States, Scuzz in the United Kingdom and on Much Music in Canada which is a great achievement since being together in 2006! ‘Portraits’ was released in Japan and the United States through Artery Records on March 2010!

Of Mice and Men and Bury Tomorrow are 2 of my favorite bands and are playing up in Newcastle on April 26^th unless rescheduled in the O2 Academy which is to look forward to!

They’re also playing Hit the Deck in April, Greenfield Festival on 17^th June and Ghostfest in Leeds on 30^th June.

Studio Albums

Portraits (Basick Records, 2009)

The Union Of Crowns (April 2012)

EPs

The Sleep of the Innocents (Self Released, 2007)

On Waxed Wings (Artery Recordings, 2010)

Music Videos

Casting Shapes (2007)

Her Bones In the Sand (2008)

You And I (2008)

Lionheart (2011)

Royal Blood (2011)

I have only ever been to one of Bury Tomorrows gigs and I really enjoyed it, they were so good live but at the time I only knew 2 of their songs! So I would definitely listen to them as they have many fans no matter where you go! I’m really looking forward to seeing them live again and hopefully I’ll get to meet them this time!

They have a website which is www.burytomorrow.co.uk and they have many videos on youtube!

 Thanks for reading, By Ryan Howe- Darkus Magazine.

Los Campesinos Gig Review: March 29th 2012

Los Campesinos Gig Review

Article By Peter Carr

 Venue: O2 Academy Newcastle

I will warn everyone now that this review may be biased as this band have been my favourite act for 6 years and this was the first time I saw them live.

Arriving at the 02 I was already on the ceiling with excitement, chattering to friends and trying to catch a glimpse backstage. I finally got a great standing place and had a beer in hand to calm myself down, as the lights dimmed and the chattering stopped the support band Tall Ships took to the stage.

From the off these cheeky indie chaps fitted right in with the Los Camp crowd, playing melodic and enchanting songs with a zeal that got the crowd jumping with a vigour not many support bands get. After what seemed like 5 minutes the set was over, I was left wanting more so I made sure I mentally recorded the bands name and set that aside as the next part of the night was about to begin.

As I have already stated I am a huge Los Camp fan and as soon as they took to the stage my smile went from normal to 5 miles wide. I would like to say I remember the set but I was so in awe of everything that I forgot to make any notes. Each song was greeted with frenzy, applause and each word sang back at the band drawing many a smile from each member.

The biggest cheer of the night happened when they played the song ‘You! Me! Dancing!’ I expected this yet did not expect the band to rip into it with such reckless abandon, most bands play their greatest hit with a slight drop in energy, like it has became tedious, not Los Camp, always giving the crowd what they want.

All in all this was the best gig I have ever seen, and that is a bold statement for someone who sees a gig or two a week, maybe its the years of waiting but I think its because this band have affected my life in ways that no other has before.

After the gig I was lucky enough to meet the entire band, get some pictures and autographs, meeting Gareth was everything I hoped it would be. He was funny, charming and as nice a person you would ever wish to meet, he took time to speak to me and even took a picture of my Los Camp tattoo (hopefully he’ll tweet it at some point). Will I be seeing this band again? Do I even need to answer that!

 http://www.facebook.com/loscampesinos