Big D

There's a few coming up I'd like to see. Halestorm, Dragonforce & Motorhead are all coming this way in the next few months. (Not together,sadly. That'd be a pretty good night out.)

I get maybe two-three shows a year if I'm lucky. A lot of bands skip Portsmouth and hit Southampton instead. I suppose I'd go to gigs over there if I didn't mind forking out for a hotel.

No idea. Sorry. I tried goggling the lyrics to the first one and just came up with a bunch of alcohol blogs.

Last gig I went to was Girlschool at the Gosport Festival. The ladies played a decent set - Emergency, Demoliton boys, Race with the Devil, etc - plus a couple of new songs that sounded worth buying. There were a few things working against them though. 1. The crowd was visibly shrinking every time I looked around. A Metal band is an odd choice for a small family festival anyway so after a few songs the casual fest-goers sloped off home and left the metalheads to it. 2. The PA blew up three songs in and by the time the sound was back on the band had to build up the momentum all over again. 3. And lastly, the security took issue to one punk lad being overexuberant down the front and manhandled him off the site with an arm around his throat. Naturally all his mates left with him so a big, enthusiastic chunk of the crowd abruptly vanished. Left a nasty taste in the mouth and it didn't help that the security then kept meerkatting up from behind the barrier anytime somebody looked like they might be enjoying themselves. File under "That could have gone better"

It annoys me how many melodic rock tours consist of The North - The Midlands - London (maybe) - And up yours, the Rest of England.

A charity shop isn't a weird place to find CDs. A charity shop with a pile of Death Metal CDs on the counter probably counts.

A few times. About 16 years ago my local library was selling off a ton of vinyl and by the time I got around to going most of it was gone. Then A few years back I found a stash of £1 vinyl in Brighton. I thought I'd pick it up on the way back and of course, we never went anywhere near it again.

It's a bloody good song and I was overjoyed when I found the 7" in a shop in Stoke. Would I pay three figures for the CD? Unlikely.

I quite liked Nirvana when they first came out but now it's got to the point where I almost have to leave the room if they're being played. I went off Guns N Roses quite quickly too.

I've just found out that Little Angels are playing The Wedgewood Rooms in June. If I'm available I'd rather like to go.

Spider - New Romance

Apparently they changed it quite a bit from the original stage show. Ah what the hell. If anybody goes to see it, it's for the songs anyway.

I didn't know this was out there. Thanks for posting.

I quite like the second Damn Yankees album but I will agree that it's not as good as the first. Same with Thunder. "Laughing On Judgement Day" is a decent album but doesn't compare to "Backstreet Symphony" And now I've thought of a better example. Romeo's Daughter. The first album was glorious. "Delectable" had precisely one good song. I hung on to the first album (on cassette) for a couple of decades. The follow-up I got rid of inside two months.

I would be more impressed if they weren't utterly butchering that song.

Snakebyte - She's A Witch

I loved Houston's - Truth Slips. Does that count? "Close My Eyes Forever" hasn't aged well for me, sadly. Loved it at the time, mind you. I rather like Lizzy Borden & Betsy Bitch's version of "Don't Touch Me There"

Budgie - Breadfan

This to the power of ten. Also: Giant with Dann Huff Tygers Of Pan Tang with Jon Deverill and John Sykes And purely for my own amusement: Ethel The Frog.

I have two tentatively lined up: Summers at Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth 11/04 - From what I've heard, they're a bit Def Leppard so might be worth seeing. The Gosport Festival - Mostly local/covers bands but Girlschool are headlining Friday and Dr & The Medics Saturday - I saw Girlschool back in 1993 so I'm curious to see what they're like these days.

Queensryche. Operation Mindcrime II had precisely one decent song on it and both times I've seen them lately they just seemed to be going through the motions.

Blue Murder - Blue Murder

I went out and bought the CD on the strength of "Truth Slips". It's OK but not essential. "Truth Slips" is easily the standout song and that's mainly for the female vocals.

I have mixed feelings about Classic Rock. I like the articles-I can guarantee learning something I didn't know - but they do seem to be edging ever closer towards being "Q" and the bands on the CDs are either 70s rock wannabes or desperately want to be the next Guns n Roses. The AOR specials are worth a read, mind.

I think if I go - and I'd like to - it would be for the Friday. Ten and Tyketto have both been on my to-see list for ages whereas the only other band I'd really get excited about is Fiona.