Another evening back at Nottingham’s Old Angel, with the camera in tow. This time to catch Merciless Terror tearing up the stage. In fact, fast enough that I could barely focus, so not too many keepers out of the lot.
Hopefully there are some more Angel shot’s to come from Wormrot’s nottingham gig, but I’ve realised I’d shot them at ISO 800 and developed at ISO 1600, so we’ll have to see how they come out.
Just a tad loud last night at the Old Angel, and I can still barely hear. Going to have to make sure I stash plenty of earplugs in each of my camera bags.
Another tip I forgot was to mark which speed I shot each film at. I mean, how do you tell the difference between a full casette of HP5+ @ 800 from one @1600? Thankfully I managed to remember that the ISO 1600 roll had been followed by a roll of DX3200, so if I’m right the 1600 ISO HP5 roll is in the Delta cannister. Hopefully…….
Good gig though. Absolutely knackered as I’d walked up to the Angel after getting the train back from Nottingham to Luton (which was redirected via Toton yard, cool if you like looking at old railway hardware). Necrocest had cancelled so Merciless Terror got to headline, pretty energetic so just hoping the autofocus kept up this time. Did end up cheating and getting the flash out, be interesting to see how that works with film.
Now these were a fun band to watch. Full on medieval garb, swords being swung and goblets of blood being drunk. I seem to remember some ‘vomiting’ of blood, but thankfully the camera was kept far enough out of reach :)
So I’ve been a little tardy getting these up (18 months), but finally i’ve gone back and got them all sorted out. Half the time was taken trying to find the portable drive I’d stashed them on. There you go kids, tip number 2154, make sure you remember where you leave your photos (this is something moving onto film will make easier as I can just keep them all in a box in the cupboard :) )
First up are a couple of bands where I only got one or 2 of them (unfortunately a lot of EBM bands don’t actually move much, so chance for interesting shots are a little rare).
Marsheaux:
Coreline:
Noisuf-X:
More will appear shortly.
And if everything has worked behind the scenes this should also mean i’ve rejoined LJ, and in a moment of synchronicity these are the pictures I needed to sort out in my last post
Torturous Promotions is proud to present the celebration of frostbitten grimness which is Black Metal Massacre III!
Headlining this coming together of misanthropes are Carpathia from Coventry. Their brand of Black Metal comes with a progressive edge along the lines of Norways’ finest Emperor and Enslaved!
Joining us as Special Guests are Cnoc An Tursa all the way from Scotland!
Finishing off the line-up are Plagues’ Fire from Lincoln and heroes of BMM II Adversary from Leicester!
Saturday saw a trek down to Brixton for the now annual Carter USM reformation gigs. Well annual for everyone but me as I missed the last 2 by double booking myself (Drop Dead in Prague and Carcass at Damnation respectively), so as it’s 12.5 years since I saw them last (Rock city, May 2007) I was determined to make this one.
After the customary pint in the Beehive head across to the Academy. Very busy getting in, but the merch stall was nice and quick so replaced some t-shirts with some newer less stained versions and headed into the main hall. Very full, but thankfully there was still a reasonable amount of space to stand around to chat and drink.
The chants of You Fat Bastard started up the minute Jon Beast was spotted. He appeared to be wearing underwear and bubblewrap, but thankfully from my view point I can’t confirm if the underwear was there or not:).
Setlist for this was nice and easy. Play all of 30 Something, and then 101 Damnations, then finish with a couple of single tracks and some covers.
Sound was great throughout. The passion and performance came piling off the stage. The Audience were all well up for it, decent sized outbreak of pogoing at the front, and the anti crowd-surfing posters the the front were just a joke :). Every word has someone singing along, even the samples got a good shouting out. Despite the lack of baggy shorts I felt 15 again.
Closing with Rent just reminded me that Carter and the Pet Shop boys are both ’2 blokes with a drum machine’, the difference being that Carter went to the pub and got a sense of humour.
Hopefully the threats that that might have been the last ever show turn out to be just empty ones. not a band I want to reform, but I sure like the option to see them now and again.
Saturday saw a trek down to Brixton for the now annual Carter USM reformation gigs. Well annual for everyone but me as I missed the last 2 by double booking myself (Drop Dead in Prague and Carcass at Damnation respectively), so as it’s 12.5 years since I saw them last (Rock city, May 2007) I was determined to make this one.
After the customary pint in the Beehive head across to the Academy. Very busy getting in, but the merch stall was nice and quick so replaced some t-shirts with some newer less stained versions and headed into the main hall. Very full, but thankfully there was still a reasonable amount of space to stand around to chat and drink.
The chants of You Fat Bastard started up the minute Jon Beast was spotted. He appeared to be wearing underwear and bubblewrap, but thankfully from my view point I can’t confirm if the underwear was there or not:).
Setlist for this was nice and easy. Play all of 30 Something, and then 101 Damnations, then finish with a couple of single tracks and some covers.
Sound was great throughout. The passion and performance came piling off the stage. The Audience were all well up for it, decent sized outbreak of pogoing at the front, and the anti crowd-surfing posters the the front were just a joke :). Every word has someone singing along, even the samples got a good shouting out. Despite the lack of baggy shorts I felt 15 again.
Closing with Rent just reminded me that Carter and the Pet Shop boys are both ’2 blokes with a drum machine’, the difference being that Carter went to the pub and got a sense of humour.
Hopefully the threats that that might have been the last ever show turn out to be just empty ones. not a band I want to reform, but I sure like the option to see them now and again.
Monday 26th sees Amon Amarth playing The Rescue Rooms with Entombed supporting. Should be a good gig, and excellent to see another band either picking to, or being moved to the Rescue Rooms rather than suffering the Basement. Not quite sure if we’ll be going yet as we’ve see both bands twice this year, but it should be a great show.
Thursday 29th sees Therapy? playing the Rescue Rooms, with support from Ricky Warwick and You Slut! Been years since I’ve seen Therapy?, I can remember them playing pretty high up the bill at Reading at the height of their popularity though.
Friday and Saturday I’ll not be in Nottingham for gigs, as we’ll be at Wembley for the Fleetwod Mac gigs (eclectic music tastes, we have them).
And then back to Rock City on Sunday 1st Nov to see Absu. Supported by Pantheon I, Razor of Occam and Zoroaster. Looking forward to this one. Was a little miffed when Nachmystium were replaced by Pantheon I, but having a had a listen to some bits and pieces it’s not too bad a swap.
Bummer, appears tonight’s Goldblade gig at Seven has been cancelled. Rats, that’s put my evening’s plan to rest. Could be tempted by Editors at Rock City, but it’s not a cheap night out.
Well it looks like shaping up for some pretty good festivals next year.
Just booked the hotel for the Leipzig Wave Gotik Treffen, now debating whether to fly or take the train. No bands announced yet (as usual), but still 4 days in a beautiful city overrun with Goths, Punks and associated weirdos is always good for the soul.
Hellfest is shaping up nicely with Immortal, Twisted Sister, Behemoth and Finntroll. Think I might even invest in some cheap tickets before the end of November. This time the transport debate is between Flying and Driving, depending on what car we have at the time.
And last but not least the UK’s own Bloodstock is shaping up nicely with Behemoth, Obituary and a load more to be announced. if some of the rumours are true, this it going to be an impressive year.
I’m sure we’ll find plenty more to fit in around that lot as well. 2010 is looking to be a fun year.
Got into Rock City about songs into Suicide Silence‘s set. Got to say it didn’t do anything for me. I’ve got “The Cleansing” and didn’t think it was too bad as an album. I think the main problem was the vocals, there just wasn’t any real depth or command in them. There was a good racket from the drummer, though nothing amazing and the string section were passable. But at nearly twice the age of a lot of the crowd, what do I know?
Managed to get pretty close to the front for Behemoth. Amused by the chants for the band, seemed to be a bit of confusion about how exactly to pronounce it. Opening with “Ov Fire and The Void” from the new album was great, setting the bar high for the rest of the set. Which they hit, Slaves shall server was immense. The entire band were on top form. Inferno’s drumming was tight and fast, the Orion seemed to be having fun. And Nergal was on fine form, though touring with the Americans does seem to have had some influence on his stage manner. Where I was stood the crowd were really into the entire set, with some of the younger members of the audience having fun in a circle pit just behind. Only slight downsides were the constant leaving of the stage between songs to swap kit over, and finishing on a slow number.
retired to the Merch stand (lovely all over Evangalion print T-shirt purchased), grabbed a beer and watched DevilDriver from the back. Pretty competent set, but after about 4 songs it was all sounding a bit samey and nothing was really grabbing us so we decided the pub was a better use of time. After a slight fan moment as it was realised we were stood next to Behemoth (they scrub up well out of the stage gear) we headed off to the Tap.
Looking forward to seeing Behemoth again, hopefully headlining themselves next time. But looks like there’s at least 2 dates to look forward to next year as Hellfest and Bloodstock.
Only 2 gigs this week, but both should be pretty impressive
First up on Monday 19/10/2009 at Rock City:
rock city flier for Devil driver and behemoth
DevilDriver, Behemoth, Suicide Silence, Trigger the Bloodshed and Malfice. I’m mainly going for Behemoth, their new album “Evangalion” is probably going to end up in the top 10 albums of this year for me. DevilDriver are the new band of ex-Coal Chamber’s Dez Fafara and a listen to their latest album makes it sound like I’ll be hanging around to see them as well.
T.V Smith, yes that T.V Smith from the Adverts. And then headlining, John Robb and his merry band Goldblade. They never disappoint so really looking forward to that one.
And then on Sunday it’s the annual Hockley Hustle in Hockley. Far too many bands and venues to list here, so go and visit the website and I’m sure you’ll find someone you want to see.
Photos from Joolz Denby, New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack and The James Warner Prophecies performing at Seven in Nottingham on the 11th October 2009.
Didn’t take too many as it wasn’t really the sort of gig for wandering around at and I was worried by just how load the mirror slap on the 30D might have sounded (it was a seated show of acoustic and spoken word performances), and guessed that dragging out a huge flash might have made me unpopular.
Happy news of the night was that my 50mm/1.4 worked flawlessly. It started playing up at another gig a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been prevaricating on sending it away ever since. So glad it’s working though as it’s a lovely little lens in low light non-flash situations.
The James Warner Prophecies performing at Seven
New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack performing at Seven
A bit of a different gig tonight. No distorted guitars or standing up clutching apint or energetic dancing for us. Instead a peaceful evening of acoustic performaces, spoken word and dinner.
The performance was downstairs at Seven for a change (normally bands are upstairs). The evening started with the serving of a veggie lasagne which was a nicer way to start than the usual pack of Dry Roasted peanuts to soak up the beer, could have been a little larger though.
First performance came from The James Warner Prophecies (Myspace). A nice laid back mix of acoustic guitar, bass, flute and a small drum. Really quite enjoyed this, nicely laid back rock/indie tunes with a bit of a lilt. They said normally they were a bit louder, and having listened to the tracks on their myspace I’d have to agree. But the acoustic set was enough to persuade me to fork over a fiver for their album. Will have to have a listen to that later.
Next up were 2 members of New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack (Myspace) doing a short set. Just a nice combination of guitar, bass and voice. Very 60′s/Donovan like, very nice. If I’m in the country we’ll try and catch the full band when they support In Isolation at The Maze on the 5th november
And then the main event of the evening, a spoken word performance by Joolz Denby (Myspace. Really hard to write a good review of this as it’s always amazing, but very hard to try and convey that to someone who’s never seen her perfom. There were stories of the seedy underbelly of music festival and the idiocy of believing that a gun makes you a man, all mixed in with sharp life observations and anecdotes. Speaking with passion Joolz always make you feel you’re there in the flesh, and even though you’re only with the characters for a short time they all feel fully fleshed out and very real. Plus there were cupcakes.
Joolz’s performances are always memorable for her performance and the overall evening (the time I saw her at Beeston library straight after driving back to nottingham from Leipzig, performing in a tattoo studio in Derby, and walking through a small blizzard to her last appearance at Seven spring to mind) and I this was another one to add to that list on both counts.
Many thanks to James and Michelle from Riot Promotions for putting the gig on.
I did take some photos, but they’ll follow later once I get a chance to see just how noisy and out of focus they are (and at Joolz’ request try to remove 15 years in photoshop).
So a thursday night trip into nottingham town for a gig at the old angel, been a while since I’ve done that.
unfortunately another late appearance due to sickness and work, but we were still there for just after 9 having been warned via Facebook that the place was looking very busy. It certainly was. Ended up grabbing a pint and chatting to people downstairs (could have done without Roy’s Rock Karaoke having now spread out from the Sal) for a bit.
Remembering why we’d turned up we headed upstairs to catch Afternoon Gentlemen (I think, I’ve no idea so apologies if I offended anyone). Good short focused set.
Then time for the main act. The only time I’ll get to see Insect Warfare. And boy they don’t disappoint. Straight off from the start. People going wild, pint glasses shattering off the roof (so much for the ‘plastics only upstairs’ policy). A variety of vocalists clamber on to help out, none of which I recognise. And as usual there’s no chance of a setlist from me, not even songs stand out, just a short wall of aggression. At most it was a 25 minute set, with one begrudging encore before the band starts stripping the stage.
So another night ends on a high with ringing ears. Need more of this.
Due to illness managed to miss Tracedawn and Metsatoll’s sets. Though I’m reliably informed that Metsatoll were very good.
Turned up about 10 minutes before Ensiferum went on stage so just enough time to grab a beer say hello to people and find a spot.
Nothing too flashy on stage, keyboard stand that looked like 2 huge swords and a very nice 6 string bass with LED fret markers was cool.
They came onto stage and immediately the crowd got going with chants and occasionally breaking into a small pit for the faster songs. Good setlist, decent mix of stuff off of all the albums. As usual I can’t remember too many of them (maybe pen and pencil in future?) but we definitely got From Afar, Little Dreamer, Lai Lai Hei, Slayer of Light and Iron. Bloody good value for money, 1:45 set is pretty impressive. Looked like lots of other people enjoyed is as well from the faces at the end of the set. pretty well attended as well.
Nice to be in the Rescue Rooms, wish more metal bands would book themselves in here rather than try for Rock City and end up in the Basement/Disco II. The Rescue Rooms have some space to move, and a stage that’s mor that 9″ high, so there’s a good chance of seeing the band you want to see. And the PA seems to be slightly less harsh on the ears, probably due to a bit more space and the hung PA, so there’s a chance for the engineer to give a good volume to everyone, and not deafen those nearest the stacks.
Slight break until Sunday when Joolz Denby will be performing at Seven:
Looking forward to seeing this one. Saw her perform there a couple of years ago (memories of walking into town through a snow storm), and looking forward to repeating it :) (plus I’ve got my tickets so I’ve got a veggie curry to look forward to):
On Monday there’s a talk organised by the BCS about the Enigma code breaking efforts during World War II – detail @ http://nottmderby.bcs.org/events09-sep.php (plus there’s a chance to have a go on an original Enigma).
And it’s at Chameleon Arts Cafe, which I’ve never been to. So hopefully rectify that one on Thursday. Apparently it’s above the clinton cards on Angel Row.
Friday night we’ll be enjoying Finntroll at Rock City:
And then on Sunday another Torturous promotions Gig rears it’s head, Middenhelm+The Atrocity Exhibit+Pure Negative+Anger Management @ The Old Angel in Nottingham.
As part of their “To Victory” tour, Middenhelm and The Atrocity Exhibit are coming to Nottinghams’ Old Angel.
Middenhelm were due to play Damaged Stock, but had to pull out at the last minute due to illness. If you were looking forward to watching them, this is the perfect opportunity to catch them in action!
So tootled down to birmingham reasonably quickly barring the obligatory missing of a junction on the A38 we got there just as doors were opening.
Think we’d managed a pint and a look at the merch before Morgue Orgy appeared on stage. I’d never heard of them before. quite a few of them on stage (6 I seem to remember). Liked they way they came through with plenty of influences. Definitely lots of old Death and Grind influences, with the bass player trying some funkier stuff in places and a more ‘Power Metal’ influence in some of the guitar work. Seemed to have bought a lot of mates with them which meant they had a decent crowd and some energy going. New EP out soon which I’ll probably try and obtain.
Then came FukPig. Either their 1st or 2nd gig depending on who you talk to. Anaal Nathrakh members and Ex-Mistress members (OK, they’ll be properly Ex after damnation but let’s not quibble here). Coming on in a blaze of wrestling masks and corpse painted ski masks they blasted through a short and sweet set. There’s no way I can remember which songs were played only having had the latest album for 2 weeks. Lot’s of energy. Just a shame it was such a short set, didn’t time it but it only felt like about 15 minutes.
Next up were Trigger the Bloodshed. The name rang a bell, but I can’t remember where from. Seemed to be a competent enought band, but they just really didn’t do anything for me or the others I was with. So we retired to the front bar for a quick drink and sit down.
And then it was time for the main event Anaal Nathrakh. They opened with ‘In the Constellation of the Black Widow’ the title track of the new album. That was enough to get me down the front into the small pit that formed. No chance of a coherent setlist from me. Though they worked there way backwards through the albums for the last 7 songs. Ones that defitely appeared include “Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen”, “The Destroying Angel” with Pandemic Hyperblast closing the set. V.I.T.R.I.O.L. was trying to whip the crowd up throughout the set, successfully, with a reasonable pit breaking out and quite a number of stage divers.
Cracking gig. Almost wished they played more, but it makes these one offs more special.
Doubt I’ll take a camera (doubt I’d get an SLR in anyways). But it should be a great gig anyway. Not seen AN before, but a huge fan. Could do with a new hoody, so hopefully they’ll have some there.
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