Monthly Archives: August 2019

Gig review: DANNY VAUGHN – Eleven, Stoke, 29 August 2019

Eleven has been going a couple of years now and although it is a converted warehouse, it has that rock club/gig venue vibe that suggests it has been here a lot longer. Excellent sound on the night too, plus a … Continue reading

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Gig review: BEAUTIFUL DAYS FESTIVAL – Escot Park, Devon, 16-18 August 2019

Beautiful Days festival, in it’s 17th year, is held in the grounds of Escot Park in Devon and is a festival I’ve attended every year since 2011, with good reason.  Founded by punk folk rockers, Levellers, they always offer a high calibre line-up.  A smorgasbord … Continue reading

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Album Review: DIANA REIN – Queen Of My Castle

Diana Rein - Queen Of My Castle

Gulf Coast Records   [Release date: 21.06.2019] Diana Rein’s 3rd album, ‘Queen Of My Castle’ is easily her best album so far. Together with her kick-ass band which is driven relentlessly by her drummer/producer/writer Michael Leasure, she’s pushed out of … Continue reading

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Album Review: JOE LOUIS WALKER – Viva Las Vegas Live

JOE LOUIS WALKER - Viva Las Vegas Live

Cleopatra Records   [Release date: 10.05.2019] There’s just something about these old blues guys that sets them apart and I think the word is authenticity – it’s in their blood, and they’re going to keep doing it until they can’t … Continue reading

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Gig review: DEF LEPPARD – Zappo’s Theater, Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, USA, 14 August 2019

DEF LEPPARD- Zappo

Las Vegas used to be the place where musicians were put out to pasture- the white suited Elvis and other stars to be filed under ‘oldies’. My partner grew up in the area and apparently in the eighties the big … Continue reading

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News: MARGATE RHYTHM & ROCK, 6-8 September 2019 with headliners LINDISFARNE, WILKO JOHNSON & STEVE HARLEY

WILKO JOHNSON BAND – Royal Albert Hall, London, 26 September 2017

This preview was first broadcast on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio on Sunday 25 August featuring two of the bands appearing at the three-day Margate event: Curved Air and Man. (12:16) Margate Rhythm & Rock 2019 takes place 6th – … Continue reading

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Album review: SPREAD EAGLE – Subway To The Stars

SPREAD EAGLE - Subway To The Stars

Frontiers [Release date 09.08.19] Those lovely people at Frontiers have treated us to another fine slab of late 80’s/early 90’s rock, the spotlight this time falling on New York’s Spread Eagle. Not so much of a comebaclk in this case … Continue reading

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Album review: SOLEIL MOON – Warrior

SOLEIL MOON - Warrior

Frontiers [Release date 09.08.19] Soleil Moon formed as a collaboration between singer Larry King (Michael Thompson Band) and keyboardist John Blasucci (Dennis De Young) back in 1999 and have released two albums to date, both of which any self-respecting AOR … Continue reading

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Album review: ROXY BLUE – Roxy Blue

ROXY BLUE - Roxy Blue

Frontiers [Release date 09.08.19] Coming a mere 25 years since their debut album (“Want Some”), Roxy Blue are back with a brand new album, very good it is too, and with the exception of guitarist Jeffrey Wade Caughron, the band … Continue reading

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Backstage Hero: RICK PALIN

Rick Palin runs Skyfire Promotions and is organising another Cancer On The Rocks festival later this year on the 23 and 24 November at the Bush Hall, London. He gives us the lowdown on Cancer On The Rocks, why Gene … Continue reading

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Album review: THE MEMBERS – Version

THE MEMBERS - Version

Cleopatra Records [Release date 16.08.19] I can’t say I know a lot about punk rock mavericks The Members, beyond a vague recollection of their 1979 hit single ‘The Sound Of The Suburbs’, my allegiances back in the 1970′s being firmly … Continue reading

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Quick plays: VISIONATICA, ARDOURS

VISIONATICA - Enigma Fire

VISIONATICA Enigma Fire (Frontiers) [Release date 12.07.19] You have to ask yourself, on occasions, where has originality gone? Visionatica, a[nother] female fronted symphonic metal band, this time, from Nuremberg, failed to make much of a global ‘splash’ with their 2016 … Continue reading

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Quick plays: DUFFY & BIRD, DREW HOLCOMB, TIM GRIMM, BOB BRADSHAW, 3TIMES7

DUFFY & BIRD - Spirit Level

DUFFY & BIRD Spirit Level [Release date 20.09.19] You can’t go wrong with a voice and an acoustic guitar.  That is, if you’ve a decent singer, a decent song, and decent player.  It’s a formula as old as the hills. … Continue reading

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Album review: BERLIN – Transcendance

BERLIN - Transcendance

Cleopatra Records [Release date 16.08.19] OK, hands up who can name a Berlin number other than ‘Take My Breath Away’?  I certainly can’t, and I used to have a vinyl copy of their 1984 album Love Life.  But to be … Continue reading

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Gig review: PETER FRAMPTON – Red Rocks Amphitheater, Colorado, USA, 31 July 2019

PETER FRAMPTON- Red Rocks Amphitheater, Colorado, USA, 31 July 2019

2019 has been a year of the farewells of many of the legends of classic rock. Already this year, I’ve seen UFO, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kiss perform for (presumably) the final time in the UK and do their legacy proud. … Continue reading

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Album review: STATUS QUO – Backbone

STATUS QUO – Backbone

earMusic [Release date 06.09.19] On the release day of this album I will be avoiding social media at all costs. The luddites and trolls will be out in force to decry this album as a travesty and a slur on the Quo legacy, produced, … Continue reading

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Gig review: RUNRIG – The Last Dance DVD World Premiere – Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow – 17 August 2019

Exactly one year ago to the day I and around 25,000 other Runrig fans descended on the City Park in my home town of Stirling to witness the band’s final show. After 45 years the guys had decided that retirement beckoned but not without one last … Continue reading

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Album review: SUPERSONIC BLUES MACHINE – Road Chronicles: Live!

Supersonic Blues Machine - Road Chronicles: Live!

Provogue [Release date 12.07.19] Supersonic Blues Machine ‘Road Chronicles: Live!’, is snapshot of an evolving band on one night at the end of a 10 date European run of dates, rather than the culmination of a lengthy tour as in … Continue reading

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EP review: LONELY DAKOTA – End Of Days

LONELY DAKOTA - End Of Days

Facebook [Release date 18.06.19] When PR guff casually drops “southern rock” into a band’s bio, it usually has the catnip effect; this feverish desire to get under the hood and measure matters up against the greats of the genre. I … Continue reading

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Album review: DONNIE VIE – Beautiful Days

DONNIE VIE - Beautful Things

Deko Music [Release date 07.06.19] Former Enuff Z’Nuff vocalist Donnie Vie returns with a new album, his first in four years and a treat as it looked that after his last album, ‘The White Album’, he wasn’t overly keen on … Continue reading

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Gig review: CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL – Cherry Hinton Hall – 1-4 August 2019

Beginning in 1965, once a year Cambridge Folk Festival transforms the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall into something a bit special.  Cambridge Folk Festival is more than just the folk music.  The festival pride themselves on hosting a diverse range of … Continue reading

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Album review: MOB RULES – Beast Over Europe

MOB RULES - Beast Over Europe

SPV/Steamhammer [Release date 13.09.19] Germany. Spiritual home of power metal. Influenced by British classic rock of early to mid 80s (think Saxon, Iron Maiden et al), the scene started in mid 80s mid Europe and it’s come a long way … Continue reading

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Album review: SLADE – Feel The Noize The Singlez Box

SLADE - Feel The Noize The Singlez Box

BMG [Release date 31.05.19] One for vinyl lovers, this box is, even at first view, an amazing package. With their roots in the late 60s, Slade found fame in the early 70s and were front runners in the UK Glam … Continue reading

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Album review: RISE TWAIN – Rise Twain

RISE TWAIN - Rise Twain

Inside Out [Release date 06.09.19] Rise Twain are a new project featuring Brett William Kull (producer, audio engineer, and member of Echolyn, Grey Eye Glances, and Francis Dunnery’s New Progressives) and J.D. Beck (The Scenic Route, Beck-Fields, author & playwright). … Continue reading

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Book review: ELTON JOHN – Every Album, Every Song 1969 to 1979 (On Track) by Peter Kearns

ELTON JOHN 1969 to 1979 On Track

SonicBond Publishing [Publication date 16.08.19] This book is nicely timed what with ‘Rocket Man’ recently being shown in cinemas and the DVD release in August, plus of course Elton John is currently on his worldwide farewell tour. The book covers … Continue reading

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