Malevolent Creation - The Underworld, Camden - 10th April 2011

Toes and I jumped on the tube, this time accompanied by the youngest in the Boojay clan - Jamie. We all headed to Camden to meet up with Sam and his lady Eliska to see the untouchable Malevolent Creation at The Underworld. I had been particularly looking forward to this gig because I have loved Malevolent Creation since the '80s but never had the good fortune to see them live. All that was about to change. We all met for some early beers at The Earl of Camden pub. The place has potential but the music was blaring (not a bad thing) stuff like AHA (bad thing) and didn't make it a very welcoming environment to those of a more metal persuasion. Whatever, it was a means to an end and it served its purpose adequately.

Neuroma

We made it just in time to see the last half of Neuroma's set. They seem like a pretty solid band. Their live show was gratifying, unfortunately, and it has always been the curse of the first band on stage, that the audience was sparse and motionless which must make it difficult to perform in front of. Not bad.

Second band to grace the boards was Polish band Diachronia. At first glance they kind of resemble Seed of Detest but then the lights get a bit brighter and they start playing and you know it isn't. Seed of Detest are way cooler. Not to say Diachronia were bad, on the contrary, they were acceptable. I'm not sure how far they'll go considering some of the amazing death metal coming out at the moment, again case at hand - Seed of Detest. I took some video so you can see for yourselves below.

Professor Kennith

Third up, Basement Torture Killings. Holy shitballs!! At first I didn't know what to make of them, they freaked the hell out of me. They look like the scariest bunch of serial killer nutters you have ever seen. Closest to me was a Doctor Crippen lookalike, known affectionately as Professor Kennith (bass) adorned in nerdy attire and a fetching red bow tie. However, the shaved head, round glasses and blank stare sent a chill down my spine. Standing next to him was the rather charming Bertrand (guitars, vocals) sporting a nifty and altogether appropriate Hannibal Lecter mask. Lastly Tarquin (guitar), I think he was the most terrifying. He played the entire set with a stocking over his head. To be honest I thought the whole thing was genius. Between each song there were sinister samples of sounds you would absolutely expect to hear ricocheting around a serial killer's basement. Regardless of the theatre that is this band, the music is crushing and brutal. I fucking loved it. Basement Torture Killings are massively on my radar and I can't wait to see them again. Not to mention the fact that "in real life" they are the complete opposite of their stage personas, or at least Bertrand is, who I met after the show... Although isn't that what they said about Jeffrey Dahmer?..

Gio Geraca (Malevolent Creation)

Finally, Malevolent Creation. I have waited so long to see these guys (over 20 years). To say they did not disappoint me is an understatement. They burst onstage like a Tsunami, destroying everything in its path. They played an ample amount from their new album "Invidious Dominion" which, in my opinion, is one of their finest albums to date, but still bombarded and delighted us with older classics. Overall an extremely exhilarating and accomplished set. It was my little brother's first death metal gig, and what a way to begin! You couldn't keep him off the stage, so the Boojay's were well represented that night. I don't know how but I managed to totally tear my jeans early on in the mosh or flying off the stage but that didn't stop me losing my mind to this band. Fucking ferocious. Fucking stunning.

Mosh ripped jeans

The crowd was an incredibly amiable bunch and added to a very special night. At most metal gigs you make a friend or two, but this night it felt as though everyone had been mates for years. So there's another fantastic gig to add to a damn good run so far this year.


Boojay

Thrash Thursday - Shrapnel, Citizen Death & XXXX - 7th April 2011

So, I finished work and raced up to Camden to meet Ty "The American" and spend a pleasurable evening sampling the delights of Steve Loftin's toils at Thrash Thursday. Wow, that doesn't sound dodgy at all... Anyway, we get to The Unicorn in good time to get a couple of beers in before the show starts. I love The Unicorn, it's always free and has a great space for bands out the back (it has a Tardis-like deception). Also, it's pub prices all the way. Basically, a quality venue. Just to top it all off the sun was shining before the show and everyone seemed to be in a good mood, sitting outside and totally up for it.

The show kicked off at around 8pm with XXXX. Like I said before, XXXX are excellent! The did a cracking job again and were thoroughly entertaining. Props to Steve for organising the whole thing, hopefully this will be the start of many to come. I took some video so you can check them out below for yourselves.

Boojay & Razz (Citizen Death)

Between XXXX and Citizen Death I noticed John Blunt from Abadden loitering around so felt obligated to say "hi" considering that I believe Abadden to be one of the best new thrash bands to come out of the UK at the moment. Little did I know that this is a very dangerous person to go drinking with, particularly if you have work the next day... Enough of that and on to Citizen Death. These guys had travelled all the way from Scotland to play this gig. What a commitment! I have to applaud them, their show was ace and they seem like genuinely nice guys. They're definitely worth checking out if you happen to see them playing near you.

Finally, Shrapnel. These guys are serious pros. Their set was tight, and their performance energetic. The crowd, which was a good size considering the new night and venue, seemed really up for it. There was enough argy bargy to make it a really fun set to be a part of.

Boojay & John Blunt (Abadden)

The night didn't end there though. Somehow (and again, I blame John Blunt for this) we all ended up at the Hobgoblin. Fuck knows how I got home, although I do remember waking up on a night bus going in the wrong direction at first... As previously stated, however, the night overall made the mission home worth it. So, big up Steve for a stompin' great night!

Boojay

Metal To the Masses (Heat 10) - 27th March 2011

I thought I should write a few quick words about a gig I have seen recently. It was round 10 of the "Metal To The Masses" Competition for The Road to Bloodstock. Read more about that competition here. The main reason I was here was because my friend Steve's band was playing, XXXX. So I recruited my oldest friend Sam and his girlfriend to join me and of course my trusty girlfriend, Toes. The gig was being held at Nambucca on the Holloway Road in London. I have never been to this venue before and was suitably impressed with it for a small place. We arrived a little early, lined up a few pints and wished Steve and the boys good luck with their set.

I can't remember the name of the first band, unfortunately. However, it was a strange sort metal band, that looked a bit wrong for some reason, I think it was the singer, he didn't look metal at all. At the end of their set they asked if they could play a cover and apparently the rules stated that they couldn't, so they proceeded to play "Killing in the Name of" by Rage Against the Machine. Muppets.


The second band was a metalcore band called Hopeless Hero. They were OK. I'm not hugely into metalcore/screamo but they seemed alright. They were in the same ilk as Heart of a Coward but definitely not as good.

Want For Destruction

Next up were Want For Destruction. What a great band!! They're metal, hardcore bikers really. Really aggressive stuff and instantly likeable. They had come from Norfolk and obviously brought a few of their local fans in the van with them. I also think one or two bottles of Jager had joined them on the journey. There were three guys totally mashed, falling all over the place in the audience during their set. Normally this would go against a band for me but they were so good that I couldn't care less about the lads dribbling and stumbling around at the front, it turned out to be quality entertainment. Worth checking out for sure.

XXXX

Fourth on stage were XXXX. I am obviously going to biased with my review but whatever... First off I'd like to say that the name of this band is brilliant. It completely sums up these guys. They are old school thrash with a not too serious attitude. They look the part and definitely sound the part. They kicked off fast and hard and didn't stop throughout the set. An interesting addition to the performance was the introduction of Moshbot. This is probably their most insane fan dressed in a Blue Peter style robot costume who was unleashed from back stage half way through the set and went completely mad. It was awesome! I asked Steve later how hammered the Moshbot had to have been and to my astonishment found that he hadn't touched a drop!! I had not seen the band before and I was pleasantly surprised, and I'm not just saying that.

Seed of Detest

Finally, Seed of Detest. Fucking hell these guys are good. If you like Death Metal then definitely, definitely check these guys out. They are one of the tightest unsigned bands I have ever seen. I actually had a chat with their singer Itami after the show and discovered, again to my amazement, that they'd only been together for six months! Unbelievable! (Thanks for the CD by the way) I can't stress enough how much this band need to be listened to, so check their facebook page. They won hands down and go through to the next round. A well deserved win in my opinion (sorry Steve!). I really look forward to seeing them again.

Overall an excellent night, one worth missing the last tube home for...

Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction - 25th March 2011

A Friday night gig! It's quite refreshing being able to sleep a hangover off and not worry about work for a change. We'd all been looking forward to this gig for a while. We were a group of six for this show, most of us Zodiac regulars but some newbies too. We had a couple of cheeky pints at the Nags Head and then it was off to the upstairs (even though it was advertised on their website as being in the main room) part of the O2 Islington for the show.

Being a Friday night the doors opened early at 6.30pm.

Mark Thorn & Ty "The American"

According to our tickets there was supposed to be a band called Circles on first but I guess they were dropped or just didn't show. Bubblegum Screw were due on at 7.15pm but didn't come on until almost 8.00pm which was cool because we had well and truly started to get oiled up for this gig. And on they came... Bubblegum Screw. This is possibly the most ridiculous band I've ever seen. For the longest time I thought they were a piss take akin to Spinal Tap. This is ludicrous glam rock performed in an astonishingly cringey way. Camp is an understatement for this lot. The front man Mark Thorn looked as if he was wearing his little sister's clothes and pranced around the stage with his hand on his hip showing us just how limp his wrist could be. The rest of the band looked either like incredibly old Izzy Stradlin clones or young Hannibal Lecter in the film Hannibal Rising, seriously weird. It just got more and more comical as the exhibition went on. The band kept tripping over each other and screwing up their songs. It all climaxed when some strange fan wandered onto the stage. The band tried to ignore him but when he managed to get on the drums at the end of the last song, bashing away like some kind of retarded primate, had us falling all over the place. When they finally managed to get him to stop he stumbled up to the front of the stage and what seemed as if purposely fell face first into the ground in a sort of attempted stage dive that was more of a belly flop than a dive. We were laughing so hard I thought we were going to piss ourselves. Classic... No, not just classic, genius. Check out their best bits in the video below (including the weird drumming fan).

So what do I have to say about Zodiac Mindwarp? What a letdown. We have been going to their gigs since the early nineties and have never seen them perform like this. To be fair to the band, they were up to scratch and did their jobs to the usual high standard, but it was Zodiac that spoiled it. We paid £16 (about $26) per ticket for a show upstairs at the O2 Islington, which is more expensive than the average band that plays in that room, so we expected the performance to be worth at least that. Zodiac stumbled on to the stage completely wasted.

Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction

He's really aged badly and instead of looking the cool rock star he did years ago, he looks more like a seedy old man who likes to holiday in Bangkok by himself. He slurred through his words, he fell over and he had to keep himself balanced on the rigging at the side of the stage throughout the show. I'm sure he thought he was amazingly stylish gesturing towards his cock and then pointing at various women in the audience. I felt sorry for him and annoyed for the people I had convinced to see this band for the first time. The last time I saw them was at The Borderline in 2010. That was an excellent gig, but I think more for the fact that The Treatment were supporting. The rest of the band are wasting their time with Zodiac in my opinion, particularly "The Cat" on drums who stole the show again. Quite frankly we think he's a tosser and so did the rest of our group. We definitely won't be rushing out to see them again, very disappointing to say the least.



Boojay

CONTINUED - Airbourne - 30 July 2011 - Shepherds Bush Empire - DOWNGRADED TICKETS

are a bunch of dishonest fuckwits

So LiveNation got back to me five days after my complaint. Not surprisingly they re-quoted the official release by Airbourne for the original reason why the Brixton show was cancelled. I quote:


"The Airbourne concert scheduled to take place at the O2 Academy Brixton on 02 December 2010 was rescheduled due to illness.  The concert will now be held at the O2 Academy Shepherds Bush on 30 July 2010. Existing tickets are not valid for the new concert date and vendors will be in touch with their customers to exchange tickets.


Whilst our best efforts will be made to accommodate customers with the corresponding ticket type they originally purchased, the new venue is much smaller and a few customers may be offered seated tickets rather than standing stalls tickets. Customers are asked to contact their vendor for clarification and refunds are available on request should customers be unable to attend or unwilling to accept their newly allocated tickets.

Should any customers need any assistance on this matter, please email info@livenation.co.uk

We apologise for any disappointment caused by this postponement."

So basically I received the bullshit "computer says no" response and if I wasn't happy with the downgrade then I should ask my ticket agent for a refund. To which my response was to ask why the show had been rescheduled to a smaller venue. Was it because LiveNation weren't able to sell enough tickets for the Brixton Academy? I received this response:

"I'm not aware of the reasons myself, but it is more likely to be due to availability of venues on the date they could do as Airbourne have sold very well historically."

So my next question was this:

"The Shepherds Bush Empire has a capacity of 2000. The Brixton Academy has a capacity of 4921. Assuming that the original show sold even 75% of the Brixton Academy capacity, how are you going to accommodate all the people that bought tickets for the original show in the smaller venue? Or, why aren't you putting on two dates at Shepherds Bush? It doesn't make sense to me. I'm sure you will appreciate that this looks like the fans are bearing the brunt of the promoter's shortcomings. Put yourself in my shoes, would you be happy with this? It would be great if you could answer these questions and put my mind (and I'm sure many others) at rest."

LiveNation responded with:

"I can only advise what I know to be the case and I cannot respond to your suggestions as we are not informed of the specifics regarding this rescheduled event. Please let me know if you would like a refund or if you will be keeping your tickets as that is all I am able to assist with."

My response:

"I was informed by Stargreen that the promoters of this event had allocated all the standing room tickets to people that purchase their tickets from Ticketmaster and that other ticket agents, such as Stargreen, had been pushed to the bottom of the list, which I'm sure you will agree is unreasonable. I then contacted Roadrunner Records to find out who the promoter was in order to arrange standing room tickets fairly (as I would assume a company organising an event such as this would adhere to a fair practice policy). They informed me that the promoter is Live Nation and also told me how to get in touch with you. So, being that Live Nation is the promoter of the event would then surely have the specifics and also the capability of issuing tickets as they see fit. So with that in mind, if you can't help me with this issue, then please put me in touch with someone who can."

LiveNation's response:

"Live Nation are not at liberty to divulge the information you have requested. You have been offered a ticket to the rescheduled event that is not inferior to your original as the face value remains the same."

So here's my problem... How do LiveNation think that a standing room ticket is not inferior to a seated ticket? Notwithstanding the fact that our group will be completely split for the night. Believe me I won't let this lie. We shouldn't have to be fobbed off with such a load of bullshit. Do they think we're stupid? It's blatantly obvious that the original gig was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. As a result we have all been relegated to a smaller venue and those who booked through LiveNation's preferred vendors will get the better tickets, not those who purchased them first and have been hugely inconvenienced by the originally cancelled gig.

To be continued...

Airbourne - 30 July 2011 - Shepherds Bush Empire - DOWNGRADED TICKETS

I purchased 7 standing room tickets on 22nd June 2010 for the Airbourne show at the Brixton Academy that was cancelled on 2nd December 2010. We were promised that our tickets would remain valid for the rescheduled show. Once I noticed that the show had been changed to a different venue I immediately called my ticket agent (Stargreen) to check that the tickets remained valid as STANDING ROOM tickets. They confirmed that this was the case. Only yesterday did I find out that the tickets had been downgraded to Level 2 seats. I obviously contacted my agent immediately to confirm that this information was correct. They informed me that priority went to people who buy their tickets through Ticketmaster. This is total bullshit and I think that the priority should go to those that bought their tickets first. If Airbourne don't sort this out and stick to their promise then they can go fuck themselves.

If you are having the same problem and want to contact the promoter directly you can at info@livenation.co.uk Include your name, address, email address, telephone number, complaint details, seating details and booking reference numbers (these are on your confirmation email, not the reference numbers printed on the tickets).

Boojay

Lazarus AD, Bonded By Blood & Abadden - 9th March 2011

Once again Trunks and I headed over to the O2 Islington to see Lazarus AD, Bonded By Blood and Abadden. The gig started at 7pm which was cool because it gave us some time to get our drinking boots on before we went in. When we did finally make it to the doors, the venue was shut. The gig was on at the upstairs stage. We thought this was weird because you would expect a bill like this to attract a large crowd. We were surprised at how small the audience was, but that's OK because how often do you get to see bands this good in such a tiny environment? It's probably the last time we'll ever get to see these guys on such a small stage.

Kill The Machine

So, first up was Kill the Machine. We didn't really like them. I mean I don't mind a bit of sludge but it needs to be good. Crowbar are good. Kylesa are good. Kill the Machine are not. The music was basic and fairly monotonous. On a positive note though, their singer, I think his name is Mick, is pretty capable. I wouldn't rush to see them again, but if I happen to I won't run a mile either. The best I can say is that they're OK.

Billy Robinson (Abadden)

Next was Abadden. We were really excited to see them for the first time. We've been listening to their album "Sentenced to Death" over and over and over. They have a wicked old school thrash sound but brought up to date, if that makes sense. Their music translates perfectly live. They are young, energetic and totally cool.They thrashed us with about half an hour of sonic delights, which makes us even more excited about seeing them with Gama Bomb and Mutant in May.

Boojay & Mauro from BBB

Bonded By Blood hit the stage next. Damn these boys are good. Relentless old school thrashing never gets boring. I actually felt that I had stepped back in time about twenty years. Their new singer Mauro is a great addition to this brilliant band. We met them after their set too and they are genuinely excellent people, but more about that later...

Jeff Paulick (Lazarus AD)

Finally Lazarus AD. These guys look so comfortable on stage, like they were born for this. They are so tight as a band as well. They took it to another level. We tried to get a little mosh going but the venue is a bit small and the crowd weren't really up for it. Having said that, our mate Steve was there, and he's a nutter, so amongst us we gave it our best shot. Lazarus AD are so accomplished it's hard to put it into words. These guys have got a seriously bright future ahead of them. It's weird that Jeff Paulick is a dead ringer for Dimebag. All I can say is, quality, pure quality.

Boojay, Lazarus AD & Bonded By Blood

The night didn't end there though. Steve and I were hammered so we decided to go to The Crobar just off the Charing Cross Road with the boys from Bonded By Blood. It got seriously messy, what with all of those Jager Bombs and endless cans of Red Stripe. I don't remember how I got home. I just remember not being able to find my keys and having to wake my flat mate up at 4.30am. What an incredible night! We definitely partied like rock stars, which is a really great idea on a Wednesday night...


Boojay