The Load-In Good lord, it’s been a big month. It’s not necessarily been a high-volume month in terms of the quantity of shows, but the quality has been incredibly high. Some special, one-off sets and a pair of outstanding album release shows mean that I have a lot to say.…
The Load-In As I write these words, we are deep in the festive dead-zone, where gigs by anyone other than tribute or function bands are practically non-existent. Fortunately, in amongst the office parties and family commitments, I still managed to find a couple of shows to go to in December,…
Four years ago, I started to keep a complete list of every band I saw. Three years ago, I began kicking myself for not starting that childishly simple task sooner. Never mind. At least I can tell you exactly what I got up to this year – with one important caveat. A…
The UK is built for boring weather; the kind of weather where it’s not really nasty enough to warrant staying inside, but not really nice enough to make it worth going out, either. Basically, weather we can grumble about in queues before we get bored and go off and colonise…
Our newest writer Simon Clark is a regular attendee of the annual UK Tech Fest. Below, Simon highlights eight qualities of the festival he’s noticed over the years. Click here for info on bands, venues, tickets and more. … Familiarity The inaugural Tech Fest weekend was held in a small…
Since the last Celtic Connect, we’ve been snowed in up to our necks, endured some questionable governing on every side of the border, we’ve even had a Christmas since the last blast of Scots and Irish tunes – how was yours? Shite, aye? Nevermind, it’s almost time for the three…
What’s the difference between a good concept album and a shit one? Hard to say. Does it depend on the lyrical content? Thematic refrain and reprisal? Who knows. There’s even sneaky concept albums, the likes of which the layman listener wouldn’t even begin to fathom had intentions beyond riff, chorus, solo, repeat. The Cold Sun might be one of these; Loathe seem like a band bold enough to attempt such a thing on their debut full length. What isn’t up for debate is this – The Cold Sun is just about all filler. Twelve tracks. Six songs. Zero (or damn close to it) cares.
