http://www.gigjunkies.com Live music reviews & photography of your favourite bands and artists by Gig Junkies Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:58:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/off-the-cuff-festival-the-flapper-birmingham-uk-24-july-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/off-the-cuff-festival-the-flapper-birmingham-uk-24-july-2010/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:19:14 +0000 Wayne http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2453 As a venue, The Flapper has to be one of my favourites; it's small, dark and hovers just the right side of not being a total shithole! The sound isn't usually unnecessarily loud and has just the right level of intimacy. Not a full on in your face assault, but a more feeling of warmth as you enter the dimly lit dungeon. At least these were my prior thoughts before heading into day two of this three day mini music festival, Off The Cuff. ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/off-the-cuff-festival-the-flapper-birmingham-uk-24-july-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/william-control-octane-ok-elmo-sexwhistle-obscure-pleasures-the-flapper-birmingham-uk-22-july-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/william-control-octane-ok-elmo-sexwhistle-obscure-pleasures-the-flapper-birmingham-uk-22-july-2010/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:10:30 +0000 DB http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2451 Sweat, love and rock n’roll. Tonight’s gig, headlined by a certain William Control (aka Wil from Seattle Alt Rock legends Aiden), had it all. ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/william-control-octane-ok-elmo-sexwhistle-obscure-pleasures-the-flapper-birmingham-uk-22-july-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/nas-damian-marley-the-02-academy-birmingham-uk-19th-july-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/nas-damian-marley-the-02-academy-birmingham-uk-19th-july-2010/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:11:49 +0000 Bianca http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2464 The front of the o2 Academy has a different feeling outside it than usual, 3 metal detectors, snarling steroid injected dogs being held back by fat coppers, 4 x more security than normal and an extremely chilled mixed crowed queuing to get in to see Nas & Damien Marley. This is the first time since the smoking ban has been put into place, that I have walked into a venue to see a slight fog. The opening song "As We Enter" has Nas spitting "I got the guns" Mr Marley... "and I got the ganja”... which it then appeared, so did half the audience, as the weed was burning well tonight. ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/nas-damian-marley-the-02-academy-birmingham-uk-19th-july-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/converge-kylesa-gaza-the-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-%e2%80%93-13th-july-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/converge-kylesa-gaza-the-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-%e2%80%93-13th-july-2010/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:47:15 +0000 Bianca http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2461 Converge, just never seemed to touch Brum, every single time they’ve come to the UK. More the pity, as they’re arguably the one band from amongst their peers who have managed to successfully traverse the years since that first boom period almost a decade ago with their integrity and identity relatively intact. Until today, so for those who’ve been waiting for Converge since ‘Jane Doe’ or before, this gig really had a real air of anticipation attached to it. It also boasted a carefully picked undercard in the form of Kylesa and Gaza. ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/converge-kylesa-gaza-the-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-%e2%80%93-13th-july-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/the-black-keys-the-features-the-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-5th-july-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/the-black-keys-the-features-the-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-5th-july-2010/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:36:56 +0000 Bianca http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2429 I love this time of year. Hot sunny days, long warm nights, shorts and BBQs… And if you’re a music lover or Gig Junkie it means music festivals going off up and down the country every weekend. Of course there’s the biggie, the one every band wants to play – Glastonbury. By far the greatest asset of Glastonbury is it’s sheer power in bringing some of the worlds greatest bands to these shores. And whilst here why not turn one festival appearance into a mini tour and play a small handful of gigs in the few minutes you have spare. Taking this into account means that London, Bristol, Manchester and Birmingham get the chance to see alternative Blues / Rock duo ‘The Black Keys’ before embarking on a full US tour. ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/the-black-keys-the-features-the-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-5th-july-2010/feed/ 4 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/ghostfest-day-2-leeds-university-uk-27th-june-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/ghostfest-day-2-leeds-university-uk-27th-june-2010/#comments Sun, 27 Jun 2010 15:05:55 +0000 Bianca http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2416 Headliners Gallows stepped onstage 25 minutes late, lapping up the air of anticipation which permeated the room. They dedicated a song to Yorkshire in honour of their headline performance in Leeds, renaming ‘London Is The Reason’ to ‘Yorkshire Is The Reason’ which had the crowd chanting along. They played almost an hour of their trademark sing-along hardcore punk, peppered with Frank Carter’s uninsightful, cheeky and cocky banter. ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/ghostfest-day-2-leeds-university-uk-27th-june-2010/feed/ 1 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/ghostfest-day-1-leeds-university-uk-26th-june-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/ghostfest-day-1-leeds-university-uk-26th-june-2010/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:23:05 +0000 Bianca http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2413 Headliners The Acacia Strain stormed onto the stage with one goal in mind: to make a much noise as possible. As vocalist Vincent Bennett announced ‘We are a very angry fucking band’ they ripped into a sound that epitomised their hatred. The American deathcore band decided they would dedicate a song especially to the UK Hardcore and straight edge scene. The crowd reacted well to the headline act’s aggressive performance. ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/ghostfest-day-1-leeds-university-uk-26th-june-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/keane-the-helio-sequence-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-16th-june-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/keane-the-helio-sequence-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-16th-june-2010/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:33:12 +0000 Bianca http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2407 It was much of a surprise when I turned up at the venue to find a crowd of all walks of life and more surprisingly ages at this gig. This band obviously attract the masses so it seems. From the moment the doors opened, the crowds got bigger and bigger... Keane evidently have evolved over the years into a band who have an affinity with everyone. Their radio friendly tunes appealing to all has definatly proved successful for them this evening as I can only assume that ticket sales have been rewarding for them tonight... ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/keane-the-helio-sequence-o2-academy-birmingham-uk-16th-june-2010/feed/ 2 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/band-of-horses-darker-my-love-the-wulfrun-hall-wolverhampton-uk-14-june-2010-2/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/band-of-horses-darker-my-love-the-wulfrun-hall-wolverhampton-uk-14-june-2010-2/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:50:38 +0000 Wayne http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2373 Right, mustn’t mention the World Cup... bollocks... okay that’s the last mention of it. Promise. Especially as the English team’s probably been knocked out/injured/ defected to a team with at least some frickin’ hope of winning by now. Gah! Did you see the game against the USA? Good grief. I only watched up to the point where our goalie decided to roll the ball into his own net. Genius. Speaking of (cheesy link ahoy) the USA (see, told you) tonight’s gig saw a brace of bands from way over United Stateside, kicking off (damn... bloody football) with Darker My Love. ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/band-of-horses-darker-my-love-the-wulfrun-hall-wolverhampton-uk-14-june-2010-2/feed/ 4 http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/jay-z-drake-mr-hudson-the-lg-arena-birmingham-uk-9th-june-2010/ http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/jay-z-drake-mr-hudson-the-lg-arena-birmingham-uk-9th-june-2010/#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:40:24 +0000 Bianca http://www.gigjunkies.com/?p=2352 Is Jay-Z the best rapper ever? This was the topic of conversation between my friends and I on the way to the LG Arena Wednesday night. You see people always mention names like Eminem, Tupac and Biggie but people seem to sleep on the man born Shawn Corey Carter. Jay-Z is critically acclaimed within the whole of the rap industry, with 10 Grammy awards (and many more nominations) to his name whilst selling around 40 million albums worldwide. His latest album and 11th studio release “Blueprint 3” went straight to number one on the Billboard 200 last year (like each album before it), which was a record for a solo act in the history of the album charts, surpassing the late, great Elvis Presley who had 10. With the album sales, awards and even historical records piling up, surely Jay deserves to be mentioned as one of the greatest solo artists of our generation, never mind just the rap game? ]]> http://www.gigjunkies.com/band-reviews/jay-z-drake-mr-hudson-the-lg-arena-birmingham-uk-9th-june-2010/feed/ 5