Category: Gig Reviews
Mr Big/Scarlet Rebels – Belfast, Limelight 1 – 17 July 2024
After a long shift in her day job, Her Majesty The Dark Queen headed off into the dark cavernous heart of the Limelight with anticipation for the debut Belfast appearances of two bands: one she has loved since she first discovered them 30 years ago and another who totally blew her away on top of a mountain several decades later…
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Warrior Soul/Wild Heat – Belfast, Voodoo – 19 July 2024
More than a decade ago, Kory Clarke was described on this very site as “one of the last true great rock ‘n’ roll frontmen”. Certainly, the man also nominated as the godfather of acid punk, is one of the most charismatic, dynamic yet confusing and enigmatic personas of his generation. So, which side of his character would he reveal on this, the final night of the most recent European jaunt by the latest incarnation of his “rock and roll is performance art” distillation? Well, there was only one way to find out, wasn’t there, and that was jump aboard the thrill ride with the ultimate space age playboy and his posse…
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Vendetta Love/Delusional Silence – Belfast, Voodoo – 13 July 2024
It had been more than a few hot minutes since we had reunited the ÜRHQ tag team and climbed the hallowed stairs of our favourite venue, but what better excuse to take a trip into the darkened heart of Belfast city’s back streets than this promisory note of a double bill, headlined by one of the most exciting young bands I have heard in a long time, making their first venture across the Irish border to the northern capital.
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Psychedelic Porn Crumpets/FEET – Amsterdam, Paradiso – 8 July 2024
By this point Jase W is convinced that there’s something in the water (or the beer – Ed) in Australia. The sheer amount of incredible bands that are just on the unusual side of things seem to be popping out of there like hot cakes and the aptly bizarrely named band, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, is another good example. And finally after the rescheduling of the show earlier this year, our European correspondent get to see them at the rather lovely Paradiso venue supported by an equally oddball named band, FEET. It’s all going to be a bit of an odd one tonight by the looks.
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Otoboke Beaver/Drinking Boys And Girls Club – Amsterdam, Paradiso – 4 July 2024
Every now and then you catch wind of another Japanese band that are just that little bit on the crazy side and somehow miss them only to find they’re playing up the road from you the next year and this time it’s Otoboke Beaver. This four-piece of outrageously energetic Japanese women do some of the most insane punk Jase W has ever heard and tonight he got to catch them at one of my favourite venues in the Netherlands, Paradiso in Amsterdam. Along with Drinking Boys And Girls Choir (yes that’s the full name) as support from South Korea, it was going to be a fun night with some shouty antics no doubt!
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Julie Christmas/Throwing Bricks – Utrecht, Tivoli Vredenburg – 1 July 2024
This time last week, Jase W was having one of those moments where he was questioning his sanity a bit. Why? Well, because he had just got back from the Jera On Air festival, gone to the gym and then set out on the road to Utrecht again, this time to catch Julie Christmas… all good fun for our European correspondent, though.
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Jera On Air – Ysselsteyn – 30 June 2024
The weather overnight had left a pretty noticeable impact on the ground for the fourth and final day of Jera On Air, but it’s not quite as bad as what Jase W had thought it would be. That being said , he had already put his feet in a hidden puddle so it was off to a good start… His legs were covered in mosquito bites, and he was a bit tired despite having a fairly decent night’s sleep but this is just how festivals go when you’ve been up and active for almost 18 hours a day the whole time….
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Jera On Air – Ysselsteyn – 29 June 2024
So after a bit of an early night at the end of the second day, Jase W woke up nicely rested for day three of last weekend’s Jero On Air bash, and after sorting out some personal stuff first thing and eating half of an undercooked panini, he was back in the arena area for Another Now.
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Jera On Air – Ysselsteyn – 28 June 2024
It was day two of the Jera On Air festival and Jase W had woken up with an absolutely crippling hangover but never fear, a bottle of Fanta and a shower later and our European correspondent ready to face the day and get the cobwebs blown off by the opening act, Heriot.
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Jera On Air – Ysselsteyn – 27 June 2024
It was absolutely bloody blazing in the Netherlands (for once) and after taking an extended train ride to Deurne and shuttle to Ysselsteyn, Jase W arrived at Jera On Air! This is a fantastic small festival in the Netherlands with a pretty consistently fantastic lineup that boasts band bookings that you’d expect at a festival at least twice the size.
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Cradle Of Filth – Utrecht, Tivoli Vredenburg – 25 June 2024
You know what screams “the perfect thing to do on a 29ºC, clear as fuck day for the first time in four months in the Netherlands”? That’s right, go to a darkened room several floors up in Utrecht and get screamed at by some metal bands. This time it’s one of those ÜK bands that’s been around so long they’re very much part of the furniture and featured more times in Kerrang! magazine than your dad’s seen your mum naked!
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Abbath/Kampfar/Vltimas – Utrecht, Tivoli Vredenburg – 20 June 2024
It’s not often you get a chance to easily drop along to one of the biggest names in black metal, but not just that, a specialist throwback set at that. Tonight it’s Abbath playing a special Immortal set and Jase W wasn’t going to let this one slip by easily!
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