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February 2004 - Avenged Sevenfold at Oxford Zodiac Orange County, California, has produced some fantastic rock talent, with Avenged Sevenfold being the latest hardcore goth metallers to catch the attention of the music press and fans of their outstanding live performance. I was lucky to see the band a few times on their first ever trip to the UK in February and got some great shots of the guys' energetic performance at the Oxford Zodiac. Avenged Sevenfold is a young band; lead singer, Matt 'Shadows', is still 22 and drummer, Mike (The Reverend), and bass player, Johnny, have yet to celebrate their 21st bithdays! The band toured with Welsh rockers, Lost Prophets, before doing their own headline shows. |
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'Zacky Vengeance' (Guitar) |
'Zacky Vengeance' (Guitar) |
Matt Shadows wows the crowd at Oxford Zodiac |
Matt Shadows |
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Matt Shadows |
Johnny (Bass) |
Drummer 'The Reverend' sweats it out at The Zodiac |
Matt Shadows |
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Matt Shadows |
'Synyster Gates' (Guitar) |
Matt Shadows |
Matt Shadows |
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Matt Shadows |
Matt Shadows |
Matt Shadows |
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Friday August 22nd Despite big acts, originally booked for the main stage, cancelling appearances, ie. Courtney Love, The White Stripes, Lost Prophets and Jay Z, Reading 2003 was a rock 'n' roll triumph. The weather was dry and there were no reports of serious crimes like at the Leeds site last year when festival goers went on a riot in the campsite. I never managed to get to the festival site until the late afternoon on all three days and the first band I saw on the Friday was The Darkness. They were full of energy, despite having had rather a heavy night the evening before at the Kerrang! Awards, where they won Best Album and Best Live Act. The highlight for me was seeing my friend Sarah dancing around on the stage (www.sarahphotogirl.com) but it's understandable why this band has become so popular, they're not like any other band around at the moment. They've brought back the classic 1980s rock sound and have originality in their songs. There's a bit of Queen, Boston and Def Leppard influence in there. Lead singer Justin Hawkins has brought back the fashion for tight animal print catsuits and long wavy hair, a unique wild image that he's become so well-known for. He squeals, Get your hands off my woman you muthafuk-kerr-r! (from "Get Your Hands off My Woman) wonderfully and almost everybody watching in the crowd mouths the lyrics to all the songs! Only a week later, Permission To Land went to No.1 in the UK Album Chart. Top success for a bunch of lads from Suffolk. Blink 182 vocalists Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge both became fathers in the last year (Mark has a son and Tom a daughter) but the experience hasn't matured them much. The ususal crude, schoolboy jokes and references to oral sex are still very much part of the act. The fans think it's hilarious, although Mark's improvised ditty about 'f**king a dog up the ass' has all been done before. Blink 182's biggest hits like What's My Age Again, All the Small Things and Rock Show are very catchy and there's certainly never a dull moment watching them. Linkin Park supported The Deftones on a UK tour about 3 years ago and a year later they were headlining arenas themselves. The main stage set at Reading was one of the strongest performances I've seen from the band, who were originally asked to headline one of the days at the Carling Weekend last year. Nobody would have ever expected Chester Beddington to have had recent health problems because he was on top form. It was clear to see that they really enjoyed evey moment, repeating, ..."Thank you for letting this happen for us..." several times between songs. The set ended with thousands of 'confetti' paper cuttings exploding from the stage into the audience. Saturday August 23rd I went straight to the Concrete Jungle Stage to catch Turbonegro who I first saw at last year;s Bizarre Festival in Germany. Bearded lead singer Hank Von Helvete is an ex-heroin addict, sporting a flabby hairy chest, with a bulging beer belly sagging over the top of his jeans and he doesn't give a shit. The Norweigan GPs (Glam Punks) arrive onstage to the army of dedicated admirers chanting "I Got Erection" and "F**k the World". Turbonegro is one of the best bands I've seen live, because they're such good fun and look like a denim-clad cross between Alice Cooper and The Village People. They've made some awesome records over the years and a great comeback in 2002 (after a five year hiatus while Hank cleaned-up in rehab) with the Scandinavian Leather album. Anyone who sings lyrics like, I'm feelin' fine, 'cause I heard denim's back in style...(from Fuck the World) is worth checking out! Last time I saw Beck was also at Reading, in 2000, and he was the highlight of the weekend for me, an amazing performer. He's still brilliant, but the funky eccentricity of the 2000 performance wasn't there this time. He was on while it was still daylight and came on in a t-shirt and jeans. Whatever happened to the smart suit look? The best moment was him singing a random medly of Justin Timberlake's Body Rock, Beyonce Knowles's Crazy in Love and Nelly's Hot in Here, amongst his own hits! Still, New Pollution, Loser, Sexx Laws and Where it's At are as good as ever. I moved myself from the main stage to the Radio One stage for the other headline band that weren't Blur. Californian GGPs (Glam Goth Punks) AFI (A Fire Inside) have been around for at least ten years and formed while they were still in high school. Their most recent album Sing the Sorrow a creative and artistic record that is their biggest success yet, has catapulted them to mass popularity. It's obvious AFI are must-sees. In the NME signing tent only a few hours before their performance (their first at a UK festival), fans hung around for around two hours to queue to meet them and the crowd was huge! I was lucky to be able to watch from the side of the stage and it was my first time I'd seen AFI. They appropriately started with Miseria Cantare - In the Beginning the 1st track from Sing the Sorrow. Vocalist and songwriter Davey Havok is a real character! complete with smudged eye make-up and wild long black hair which files all over the place. This lot are fantastic live and Davey encouraged the audience to join in and 'get their lighters' out to create the atmosphere during slower songs. I lost count of how many times he thanked the crowd for supporting his band. Heavily tattooed Davey (I didn't know whether to just look at him or study him!) waved his arms around crazily and even dared to venture into the crowd of his own audience! Fabulously fun Girls Not Grey (which won AFI an MTV award a few days later), Bleed Black and finally the live favourite God Called in Sick Today, absolutely rock. Sunday August 24th The Sunday of the Reading festival has always been known as 'the rock day', but in 2003 it was all rather spread out over the weekend, having The Darkness, Blink 182 and Linkin Park on Friday and AFI on Saturday. With Good Charlotte, Sum 41, System of a Down and Metallica all on the main stage on Sunday, it was keeping with tradition. Fun-time punksters Good Charlotte is the only rock band featuring identical twins, Joel and Benji Madden and they definitely deserved to win the Best Single award from Kerrang! for Lifestyles of the Rock and Famous which was a huge hit on both sides of the Atlantic. They, like Sum 41 who were next on the main stage after them, are great to watch live. Both bands are popular with younger fans, hence the fun songs and their young ages (all band members are under 25). Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 is having the last laugh, he came to the festival with his latest girlfriend, stunning socialite and hotel heiress Paris Hilton! I've seen System of a Down a few times and they're never a disappointment. They are imaginative, mad, loud and totally different from any other act around. Live favourites like Toxicity, Pyscho and the amazing rock anthem Chop Suey! make the crowd go berserk, even though there were No Crowdsurfing signs put up above all the stages this year! Nobody's performance blew me away as much as headliners Metallica did. They maybe all 40 by now, but age is no issue in rock 'n' roll, because they still remain the biggest heavy metal act in the world and probably will still will be in 10 more years. Last time I saw Metallica was at Reading in 1997, on the Sunday night again and they were worth all the hype then. Only this time I was sitting on an equipment box directly under one of the big screens at the side of the main stage. The atmosphere was amazing and even a bit scary now and then with the amount of moshers thrown over the barriers in the hundreds and there were fireworks and flame fountains. James Hetfield has fought alcholism and even depression in the past but, with a big smile and no other care in the world, it was easy to see he has recovered from his old demons and was enjoying being back on stage that night. Newest Metallica member Robert Trujillo, who replaced bassist Jason Newsted last year after having worked for Ozzy Osbourne, is fantastic and has fitted in well. Throughout an explosive two hour set, they played classics like Master of Puppets, Serch and Destroy, St. Anger, Enter Sandman, One and a moving performance of Nothing Else Matters from 1991's The Black Album. They also did two encores, coming off stage, then coming back on. Lars Ulrich couldn't decide whether he wanted to leave or not and jumped into the pit to throw away his drumsticks into the crowd. The finale play of Enter Sandman was a blast and the Hall of Fame lifetime achievement award Metallica won at the Kerrang! awards was well deserved. |
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The
Red Hot Chili Peppers at |
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Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers signs autographs outside Manchester Evening News Arena |
Red Hot Chili Peppers on stage in Manchester |
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In Manchester, there were no signs of the band's dodgy past. Opening with "By the Way", from their latest album with the same name, they were a bunch of musicians enjoying every moment of their stage presence. Anthony and Flea stripped down to their waists and pranced about like a couple of acrobats warming up for a circus act (like they always do) and there were a couple of mentions of Manchester United that surprisingly got booed! They finished with "Give It Away" from 1991 album "Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik" but returned after a few minutes with mellow classic "Under the Bridge" and "The Power of Equality". If they carry on making music as good as they do, and perform as well, there's no reason why The Red Hot Chili Peppers can't carry on for another 20 years! |
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"We're the only band who take it as a compliment when our fans tell us to f**k off!" said bass player Nicky Wire live on stage at the Brighton Centre. Well, the fans came wearing the ever-popular Manics trademark feather boas and leopard print fur coats, as worn by glam bassist, Nicky, and remembered guitarist, Richey Edwards, who went missing in 1995. His memory lives on and was very much alive during the explosive set at Brighton which was part of the Greatest Hits Tour. Songs performed were: Motorcycle Emptiness, Australia, You Stole the Sun, La Tristesse Durera, Faster, Caught By The Grace of God, She is Suffering, Little Baby Nothing, From Despair to Where, Tsunami, Everything Must Go, theme from M*A*S*H, Masses Against the Classes, Roses in the Hospital, You Love Us and A Design for Life. Nicky Wire caused more excitement by removing his trousers and standing on a platform in his underpants! |
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More smudged eyeliner? |
All dressed up to rock 'n' roll |
Yet more display of hairdye! |
We're havin' a faaag! |
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James Dean Bradfield talking to admirers outside Brighton Centre |
A tribute to Nicky Wire's apparent love of vacuuming! |
Man in a dress! |
Nicky Wire (face hidden) is beseiged! |
PHOTOS FROM JULIE: e-mailed to me hence the poor quality
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Nicky Wire |
Nicky Wire |
Nicky Wire |
James Dean Bradfield |
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It was a letdown with the disastrous weather, but the music certainly lived up to great expectations. I didn't even arrive on the site until 3.00 p.m. and already it was pouring with rain. Marquees and market stalls of the 'Village of the Damned' were packed out with rock fans desperate to keep dry and prevent their eyeliner from running. Cradle of Filth opened the heavens with their almighty noise. Then it all suddenly stopped and out came the sun., ready for lively Welsh noisemakers 'Lostprophets'. Often unfairly dismissed as a nu-metal boy band and Incubus copycats, the best rock outfit to come out of Wales in ages are exciting live and they actually do have well-written songs to go with it all!! Enjoyable frontman, Ian Watkins, is a firm favourite with the female fans - he prances around all over the place and the screams get louder - this is definitely a big rock star in the making. The band have come from virtually nothing to being signed up to a major US management company (the same as Metallica, in fact!) and having a slot on the Ozzfest tour in the US and Europe. This summer they've been upgraded from playing in marquees at last year's festivals to having main stage positions. Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja is a cracker live and the video became a popular play on MTV, plus the debut album, The Fake sound of Progress, gained positive reviews. Seeing Lostprophets warm-up the crowd showed that the future looks even more positive for Wales's super six. Enter Slayer, a complete contrast to the young band on before, this lot are the scariest looking and scariest sounding band on the Ozzfest bill. Compared with Slayer, Cradle of Filth seem just like a bunch of gothic theatre actors on a witch hunt. OK, so this isn't my 'cup of tea' - tatooed heads and extreme metal songs with titles like Hell Awaits and Raining Blood say it all - but they are one of the most successful thrash metal acts who still draw big audiences. System of a Down's second album, Toxity, was voted the No. 1 rock record of 2001 in most of the end of the year polls and it's easy to see why. The Armenian/American quartet have become an arena playing phenomenon within the last year. Despite looking like an Israeli rabbi off-duty, Serj Tankian is the most unique, maddest frontman around. His insane, tongue-twisting and inventive vocals are brilliant and the whole band seem to be getting better every time I've seen them. Daron Alkian's backing vocals add more of the wild touches. Every System of a Down song is totally crazy and everyone wonders what the f**k it's really all about, but that's what makes them so action packed. Unfortunately, the fabulous Chop Suey was interrupted by a heavy downpour. Sugar from the first album was almost ground to a halt. The wind and rain started to cause concern when part of the stage set blew down and nearly fell onto drummer John Dolmayan! Luckily, it missed him and his kit by a few inches, crashing onto the back of his chair instead. The main stage area turned into an overcrowded quagmire but the rain stopped in time for Tool. I once heard somebody describe Tool as 'the metal Pink Floyd' which isn't far off. They've taken progressive rock into new directions and have never been afraid to experiment. Complete with artistic (and incredibly weird) visual graphics of shape-changing creatures and alien foetuses shown on a big screen at the back, everything flows along with the music superbly. Fans waited over four years for the recent album Lateralus but, despite the long absence, Tool made it all worthwhile. In that time, vocalist Maynard James Keenan was also busy with A Perfect Circle but Tool came back with a blast and have been constantly touring and performing to sold-out venues all over the world. Most of the Ozzfest setlist consisted of tracks from Lateralus, favourites from the album like The Grudge, Sober and Schism were fantastic. Nobody quite understood why Maynard had a random black stripe painted down his face but that's typical of him - very odd and mysterious like his music. It's still possible to enjoy watching this band if you're not familiar with the music but Tool move people with their unique sound and creative power. Often slated by certain music journalists for taking themselves too seriously, Tool never give a f**k. They are established music artists and that element of mystery and intrigue remains part of the thrill. Before Ozzy Osbourne arrives onstage in person, film clips of the man himself come onto the screen. There's Ozzy in drag as a crazy fortune teller, Ozzy as Ali G., Ozzy in drag again as Christina Aguilera in that Lady Marmalade video and he takes the piss out of Jennifer Lopez's last video. It's very funny. Since the huge success of The Osbournes, Ozzy has become a TV star and comedian, not just 'that ageing rock star from Black Sabbath'. The 53 year-old father of five waddles about wearing a black top with red-rhinestone crosses on and encourages the crowd to 'go f**king crazy' and wave their arms up in the air. The majority of this audience weren't even born when Black Sabbath made records but it doesn't matter. Old favourites like the controversial Suicide Solution, Mr. Crowley (about master of black arts Aleister Crowley) and War Pigs go down a storm. Instead of the rain downpours that drenched the ground during the day, the set ended with a flaming fireworks finale. |
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There seem to be fewer people at the Fleadh each year which is a shame considering this is one festival which has a difference in the musical line-up and is traditional. The British weather is often a let-down for outdoor music events but, luckily, the rain stayed away for most of the day in Finsbury Park. It was good to see a variety of acts, especially the usual old favourites which is what makes the Fleadh a unique event. Cornershop are most known for the re-mixed version of Brimful of Asha which was number one back in 1997. They never managed to achieve the same success again but the Sitah sounds and Indian touches bring in a bit of difference to the rest of the main stage line-up! It's all a bit boring, only the sing-along melody of the original Brimful of Asha appeared to cheer up the crowd. Remember The Proclaimers ...? There hasn't been a band quite like them. How many other acts can anyone think of who sing in a broad Scottish accent? The same nerdy image is still there and they haven't had a Top 20 hit since Let's Get Married in 1994 but the Reid twins from Edinburgh have rarely been absent form the live circuit and their Best of the Proclaimers album was released this year. Memories flood back and it's surprising that there are quite a few greatest hits in their back catalogue. The biggest applause went for their 1988 Top 10 hit Letter from America but I'm Gonna Be (500 miles), which was The Proclaimers' breakthrough song in the US when it featured on the soundtrack to the 1993 film Benmny & Joan, starring Johnny Depp, was the highlight. The Proclaimers are currently writing new material with singer Edwin Collins! (He who sang and wrote the 1995 hit I've Never met A Girl Like You Before ...). I rushed to the Mojo Marquee to catch the rest of Irish singer and songwritier Gemma Hayes who's had some very positive reviews in NME and Ireland's premier music bible, Hot Press. There seems to be a lack of talented female singers and songwriters on the scene at the moment but here is a rising star! Having recorded two critically acclaimed EPs, 4.35am and Work to a Calm, Gemma is working on her debut album as well as touring and playing a few festivals this Summer. She is definitely a name to watch out for; she has a clear, beautiful voice and her band is superb. Even the person standing next to me said "Weren't that band brilliant?" as they all left the stage. From cool feminine vocals to manic ska punk! What a contrast! Boston wildboys The Dropkick Wildboys were also on the Mojo stage and they rocked. The band themselves even confessed that they started off as 'crap'! Both their strong influences of punk and hardcore with an obscure addition of Irish folk now works wonders. They even have a bagpipes player! Lead singer, Al Barr, really sweats it out - these guys have so much energy. Al made a hilarious dedication to Shane McGowan, doing a brief impression of The Pogues' vocalist singing! Then, in a more poignant moment, he paid a mark of respect to punk icon and influence, Dee Dee Ramone, who was found dead from an overdose only three days before (several jackets with his name painted on with dedications were spotted amongst the crowd). The Dropkick Murphys rounded-off the most explosive set on the Mojo stage by inviting girls from the audience to dance madly onstage with them. Off for more punk on the main stage - ex-Clash frontman, Joe Strummer, and his band The Mescaleros. Having produced their 1990 album Hell's Ditch, Joe was once the on-tour replacement as The Pogues' vocalist when Shane McGowna's infamous boozing problem got out of hand; but his musical career has also continued successfully with his own projects and The Mescaleros has been going for several years. Now veterans on the festival scene, plenty of dedicated Clash fans waited with baited breath for any signs of some of the classic hits. The set ended with what everyone wanted - I Fought the Law and London's Burning. This is punk fans' chance in a lifetime, seeing all seven original members of The Pogues all together live on stage! It hadn't happened in a while and most people thought it would never happen again - but IT DID. Irish flags adorned the audience and there was madness. With the trademark fag dangling from one hand and a drink in the other, Shane McGowan staggered onstage. he has a beer belly that makes him look like he's pregnant with twins; his teeth still look as rotten as ever; he chain smokes as he sings - BUT Shane McGowan, Irish punk legend and professional hellraiser extraordinaire, doesn't give a f**k and never has. It's a surprise that this man is still ALIVE but he's just unlike anyone else and the debauched genius hasn't been lost. The Poguesi legacy spans more than twenty years and they play all the classics from the drunken splendour that graced all five studio albums with Shane on vocals. He still sounds a mess and nobody can understand a work he sloppily snarls down the mike but the energetic Irish madness of all The Pogues' classics remains and it's no wonder they still have such a dedicated following. |
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Friday August 16th Being one of the biggest European festivals, Bizarre is Germany's equivalent of Reading in the UK. The site is an old airport in the small country village of Weeze, not far from the Dutch border and about an hour's drive from Dusseldorf. Bizarre 2002 was on one of the hottest weekends of the year, rock fans partied and passed-out in sweltering heat... and the bands were rather hot, too! The first act on the main stage on the first day was Custom, alias New Yorker Duane Lavold, a former film maker turned controversial lyricist. His debut album 'Fast' has had some positive reviews, despite the video for the single Hey Mister being banned from MTV for being about seducing teenage girls, booze and rather racey issues! Most of Custom's songs are on sexual matters, like Poor Little Rich Girl (the song he opened with), Morning Spank and Crawl. He proudly gets the audience going by saying, "I think everyone should take their pants off and f**k!!" I was disappointed to find out that great punk bands Alkaline Trio, Dashboard Confessional and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs cancelled their appearances over the weekend. They were all listed in the festival's original line-up but pulled out. Kansas City emo punk-pop rockers The Get Up Kids still made it and put on an entertaining show. The German crowd probably had no idea who the hell Pee Wee Herman is, hence the rather dud response to lead singer Matt Pryor introduction to their song about the comedy character created by actor Paul Rubens. Badly Drawn Boy went down well, even though they seemed a bit out of place amongst a day's main stage line-up of emo punk and guitar rock. Recently Damon Gough (a.k.a Badly Drawn Boy) scored a hit with the soundtrack to About A Boy, the film starring Hugh Grant. Oh, and he still wore that woolly hat, even though the temperature must have been over 80. If there's any band that can win an award for putting on an explosive live set, Nickelback are the main contenders. The mega-selling Canadian quartet actually traded set times with Jimmy Eat World, as they had to leave immediately after their performance to travel to the UK for the V2002 festival. Chad Kroeger has a fantastic voice and it really carries when he sings live. They came on and went straight into Never Again, the energetic first track off the platinum selling album Silver Side Up. There was no Josey Scott, but Chad did an amazing acoustic version of Hero, the worldwide hit single from the soundtrack of 2002's biggest movie - Spiderman. Then he continued to flow into the beginning of their massive US number one, How You Remind Me. The rest of the band joined him into the full powerful rock version of the song, which rounded off a spectacular performance along with flames and fireworks. The heat continued well into the evening with 'emo' rockers Jimmy Eat World, a band who were a bunch of unknowns until around a year ago and have had huge success with their second album Bleed American. Their catchy tunes, like Salt, Sweat, Sugar make this band a popular live act and the crowd went wild, especially for The Middle a Top 10 hit. Saturday August 17th The VIP area at Bizarre was very well organised, an old garage/warehouse made up to be a smart bar, courtesy of festival drinks sponsors Diebels and Smirnoff Ice. So much better than those scruffy marquees with plastic chairs we get at the British festivals, plus the drinks were very cheap, unlike at any UK festival where everything is an absolute rip-off, whether you are a ticket-paying music lover or a VIP. All main stage footage was playing on a big screen in the bar and there was even an ice-cream sundae menu with the delicious recipes named after bands! (the Jimmy Eat World was a tropical fruit flavoured mix!). The wonderful sunshine stayed with us and being native Los Angeles boys, Phantom Planet were lucky to be playing in weather they are used to. The band toured the US on the 2002 Honda Civic Tour with Incubus and cute lead singer Alex Greenwald has been romantically linked to actress Kirsten Dunst. They dedicated their songs to "all the beautiful girls out there" and got a brilliant crowd reaction to popular sing-a-long tune California Here We Come. Things got more riotious with the UK's rising noisemakers The Cooper Temple Clause, a band whose haircuts are probably more famous than their	music! Tunes like Filmmaker, Murderer and last song played Under Attack, are fabulously wild and well-performed (they won The Best New British Band award at the Kerrang! Awards two weeks later!). More aggression than ever arrived on the main stage with Filter, who started later than planned because of a technical fault. The Chicago based band's 1999 album Title of Record was a success and spurned the live favourite Take a Picture, but recent release The Amalgamut contains some of the most aggressive tracks Richard Patrick and Co. have ever recorded and was a surprise to fans who enjoyed it's predecessor. Richard wore sunglasses and a cowboy hat onstage and, as he often does, he went on about his political beliefs and patriotism. Not many people outside of Europe would have heard of Motorpsycho, one of Norway's biggest rock acts, who perform live onstage with a saxophonist, flutest and trumpet player. The music certainly rocks, but the band members themselves all looked like they needed good baths! Next up was Turbonegro, another group of nutty Norweigan musicians, unlike any other band I've seen! Rumoured to have split up several times, even though they have been together for more than fifteen years, this outrageous glam metal punk outfit made their fesitival comeback memorable. Having been out of action since 1998, mainly due to frontman Hank von Helvete's drug problems, Turbonegro add a touch of glam to debauched punk, they wear make-up and want to cause chaos. They have songs called Rendezvous with Anus and Are You Ready (For Some Darkness). Their recent tour was called the Res-Erection Tour (which says it all!). The singer looks like a cross between Serj Tankian from System of a Down and Alice Cooper and describes his band as "a homosexual circus", as well as dedicating the last song ,before coming back for an encore, to women and "the clitoris and art of giving birth"! He then marched back on to a huge applause wearing an admirals hat like Lord Nelson and rounded off a mad performance with their most popular song, I Got Erection! The outrageous frolics from Turbonegro prepared the audience for the eagerly awaited appearance from Korn. It was the band's first show in Europe for two years. Fans of the band I had spoken to admitted that they thought The Untouchables, the mega-expensive and hyped follow-up to 1999 album Issues, was rather a disappointment and a couple of people said, "it's all been done before". However, as a live act Jonathan Davis' Bakersfield five failed to disappointment anyone at Bizarre. The man in the silver skirt roared down into his trademark nude lady shaped mic stand and the mosh-pit was rougher than ever with metal fans, Korn are BACK! The only thing wrong was that Jonathan didn't speak to the crowd once, it was solid track after track, no audience communication whatsoever. They came back on for an encore with Make Me Bad, Jonathan had changed into a kilt and was playing the bagpipes. It was good to see that the band descibed as the Kings of Nu Metal are still heavy as hell, but have a sense of humour! Sunday August 18th The final day of Bizarre was yet another scorcher. I had never heard of punk band Farin Urlaub, who were on the main stage when I arrived, but they do a great punk version of that Celine Dion song My Heart Will Go On from Titanic! Puddle of Mudd were on top form - the last time I had seen the band was in the Spring at the Hollywood Palladium, where they were headlining a sold-out show with a celebrity-packed guest list. Seeing them playing at a festival in Europe is a real difference in atmosphere, but Wes Scantlin's sexy Kurt Cobain style husky vocals still sound unique and the German audience loved them, singing the lyrics almost perfectly along to tracks from their debut album Control. It's true that most females love Incubus because the lead singer looks like he's just stepped out of an advert for Calvin Klein surfwear or something, but they are one of the best live bands in the world and no matter how often it's discussed, the subject of Brandon Boyd's good looks will never eclipse this band's amazing talent. It was bass player Alex Katunich's 26th birthday, Brandon announced it, saying, "Happy birthday Dirk", because Dirk Lance is the alias Alex has used for the last few years. Incubus are a band who never disappoint onstage, they are a rare treat and have a singer who can really sing well and write fantastic songs. They did all the live favourite Stellar, Glass, Make Yourself, Privilige and Drive. A slight mistake when Brandon didn't come in at the right time at the start of Clean (from the album Make Yourself) didn't matter, hardly anyone noticed and Brandon had a good laugh about it. The best three songs, A Certain Shade of Green (from S.C.I.E.N.C.E) The Warmth and Pardon Me (both from Make Yourself ) are the last and always sound powerful. |
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Saturday August 24th I never made it on the Friday, due to illness (or rather sore feet still from being at Bizarre!) and the Saturday at Reading was rather a let-down because the weather was just awful! However, Muse managed to raise spirits on the main stage despite the crowd getting soaking wet. They have been the Kerrang! award winners of Best British Live Band two years in a row. Matt Bellamy has a superb live voice and they put on an awesome set. Their version of Nina Simone's Feeling Good is always great but the mood of the song didn't quite catch that Summer vibe at the time for obvious reasons! Tunes like Muscle Museum, Sunburn (from debut album Showbiz) and Plug In Baby (from second album Origin of Symmetry) immediately got the crowd excited. I sheltered in the backstage crew catering tent until the heaviest showers stopped, which was just in time for The Foo Fighters. The Foo Fighters are festival veterans, having played almost every big outdoor event there is! Dave Grohl even mentioned the fact that he has actually performed at Reading six times, twice with Nirvana in 1991 and 1992 and four times with the Foo Fighters. The first time with his current band was back in 1995, a time when they were on the second stage and the whole marquee was overcrowded. I remember it, because I was there. I was also at that infamous last Nirvana performance when Kurt Cobain was wheeled onto the main stage sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a blonde wig! It seems odd that it was ten years ago and now Dave is headlining the main stage as a lead vocalist himself. He is always good at having some humour added. He played around with the TV cameras and made faces. We all saw him on the big screens at either side of the stage poking his tongue out and laughing! Learning to Fly, There Goes My Hero and Monkey Wrench received the biggest applauses. Sunday August 25th The last day of Reading stayed dry and was a relief from the disappointment of the previous day. I have to confess that most of the day was spent socialising with various members of Slipknot (without their masks on, of course!) but I did watch a few great bands, too! Hundred Reasons' main stage performance was almost ground to a halt when some drunken idiot from the crowd threw an egg at the stage that hit a piece of equipment, but the band carried on and proved that they deserved to win the Kerrang! award for the Best Album only two days later. Ideas Above Our Station is certainly one of the best debut records from a British rock band in years. I wasn't surprised when Puddle of Mudd and Incubus both did the same sets as they did the weekend before at the Bizarre festival. The highlight of Incubus's performance being the moment when Brandon removes his shirt - as always! I was hoping that Slipknot would do Wait and Bleed but they never did. I remember someone saying backstage "Isn't Wait and Bleed the only song they've done that actually has a tune?" Which is probably true! They did a monstrous performance, plenty of the usual swearing, encouraging as much moshing as possible and a couple of them ran riot into the crowd. The noise almost deafened me but it would do standing right at the side of the stage like we did! Highlight of the day had to be meeting Dexter and Noodles from The Offspring because they're friendly guys and were the best band on! Now well into their late '30s, The Offspring are hilarious to watch and they have great songs. So it prooves that it doesn't matter how old you are to rock 'n' roll! Dexter's hair was dyed bright blue for this occasion and the energy in this band's performance is incompetable. Favourites like All I Want, Pretty Fly For A White Guy and Why Don't You Get A Job? are simply brilliant and this punk outfit can easily be making new music and doing shows way into their 40s. "You're the best f**king crowd we've had!!" Dexter shouted. It was a great pre-Prodigy show, punk into rock/dance. Two colourful bands in one go. Keith Flint had his trademark eyeliner on and was his usual mad self, bouncing around the stage like some kind of wild animal on an acid-trip. The last time the band played Reading was in 1998, yet another explosive show and this one topped that. Minus orginial member Leroy Thornhill (who was actually there watching with the rest of us!), Maxium Reality is still scary and the best tunes are still there, Poison, Their Law, Smack My Bitch Up, Breathe and, last but not least, Firestarter. It was the show to end all festivals. Top points! I wandered into the Orange tent where there was an '80s disco party going, which was pretty tacky. Only a couple of hours before, Sid from Slipknot did a DJ set in there. So I finished the evening at an aftershow party The Prodigy hosted in the artists bar marquee backstage. Spotted mingling amongst the crowd were Liam Gallagher of Oasis with girlfriend Nicole Appleton, her elder sister Natalie and husband Liam Howlett, founder of The Prodigy and their friends British TV presenters Donna Air, Dani Behr and Kate Thornton. Various minor E-List celebs were also seen swanning around. God knows why and how they got in, but we saw several ex-soap actors. Former members of the cast of Hollyoaks and Michelle Gayle who used to be Hattie in Eastenders, all having blagged their way backstage. Nobody had the courage to ask any of them what they are doing now! |
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