After the cancellations of 2012 and 2013 editions of the festival for various reasons, Team Sonisphere have hit back hard in 2014 with an immense and varied line up of the big names of rock and metal.

One of the few (if any) UK festivals that follow the European method of incorporating dual/alternating main stages to ensure less clashes, although they kind of ruin the point of this by having the stages at opposite ends of the main field and not side by side.

Having personally attended the 2009 and 2010 incarnations I was happily surprised to find the eclectic line ups resulting one of the best crowd atmospheres at a UK festival, only trumped by Bloodstock's close knit feel, so hopefully they can resurrect this along with the festival itself.

The initial announcements played uber safe as you would expect with regular festival heavy hitters Metallica, Slayer, Mastodon, Iron Maiden and the like, but the more recent announcements have brought out the quirky side of Sonisphere we all know and love. Normally a Metallica show at a festival would be just other greatest hits set, however for this run of shows they are allowing fans to pick any song they want for their entire back catalogue which has resulted in… just another greatest hits set *face palm*

This shouldn’t even be an issue but whenever The Prodigy get announced for a festival the inevitable cries ring out of “They are a dance act not metalz!” and once again those cries will be drowned out by the sound of Essex’s finest playing the set of the weekend and being the (almost) heaviest live act on the bill!

At any other festival, The Prodigy would be the heaviest band on the line-up, but they're simply not Electric Wizard….

Or Gojira for that matter…

The booking for Chas and Dave came via a tenuous connection that they supported Led Zepplin at Kenbworth 40 years ago, however we all know they will go down an absolute storm with a cavalcade of sing along anthems such as ‘Rabbit’ and ‘Sideboard’.

Dropkick Murphys and Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls will both provide Celtic and Folk infused Punk Rock that will get the crowd bouncing irrespective of the British weather.

Reformed hardcore heroes Raging Speedhorn and Stamping Ground are guaranteed to cause outbreaks of reminiscing and violent mosh pits amongst the older crowd members in attendance.

From the old to the new… it’s not all established or reformed act clogging up the bill, the up and coming are also well represented across a smattering of sub genres. Tesseract, Truckfighters and Black Spiders are all bands to look out for.

OK, this could be awkward.

Y’see, God Is An Astronaut and I have a… let’s say ‘chequered’ history. I’ve seen them twice before. The first time I thought they were amazing. The other time…. not so much. Don’t know what went wrong, but they were really dull. Maybe it was an off night. Maybe it was because they had to come on after a support band who were simply sublime.

A situation they are at risk of repeating tonight, as they have brought the astonishing Nordic Giants with them.

The enigmatic duo are more an art installation than a band, anonymous behind their extravagant feather-and-bone masks. It’s all drums and piano and lots of samples, except when piano-giant leaps up with his trumpet, or when drum-giant wraps himself and his violin bow around his feathery telecaster. If you’re not familiar with their sound, imagine a 2-man Sigur Ros swirled with 65DOS glitchiness. It’s not really like that, but it’s in that area. Kind of. Guest vocalists pop up occasionally in a video box, front and centre. There is smoke and there are strobing lights. It’s music that the word ‘cinematic’ was invented for.

Each song is accompanied by a short film, alternately baffling, mesmerising or terrifying. I’m never sure whether I should be watching the band or the film, and sometimes I find that a bit distracting. I’m probably supposed to be absorbing the whole, rather than the parts, which would be easier if my attention wasn’t constantly being drawn to the cavorting giant crow-monsters. A minor quibble, though, as the performance is powerful and rousing. But short.

They’re only on for 30 minutes, the lights drop and they’re gone. The audience is taken by surprise and doesn’t know what to do for a moment. Is that it? Should we clap? Eventually, we do, but it’s a slightly deflated round of applause. We hoped for more.

Right. Now. Which GIAA are we going to get tonight?

Here they are…wait a minute! Who’s he? And where’s Neils, the bass pla…oh, here he comes. There’s four of them. Which surprises me. There’s always been three before. Now they have an extra body, on guitar and keyboards. I have no idea who he is. Anyway…

They seem a little rusty at first. Maybe it’s just a first-day-of-tour thing, or maybe it’s the unfamiliar songs, but it’s not until ‘All is Violent, All is Bright’ – introduced as ‘probably our most popular song’ – that they really kick off, rattling through song after song culled from throughout their lengthy career. They don’t do the standard ‘post-rock’ long slow build trick, nothing goes much beyond five minutes, which is quite refreshing.

(You want a set list? Sorry, can’t do that, but here’s a few, in no particular order… They did ‘Echoes’, they did ‘Fragile’. From Dusk to Beyond’ and ‘Suicide by Star’. ‘Forever Lost’. ‘Route 666’. That sort of stuff.)

Many of the songs feature wordless, heavily processed vocals giving them a Mogwai-esque feel at times. Y’know, voice as an instrument. Like that. Also, played live, they seem to have more heft that they do on record. If this is post-rock, they are definitely sitting on the ‘rock’ end of the post. Shapes are thrown and guitarist Torsten Kinsella is seen to actually jump up and down more than once. They are having a ball. As far as I can see, anyway, through the fog periodically farted out by the smoke machine and the ABC’s notoriously terrible lighting. (And there we have one of the major disappointments of the night. GIAA are, or were, renowned for their lighting and visuals, but tonight they are barely visible under a few weak red lights. Something watery and blue occasionally sweeps the stage. Woo-hoo.)

Near the end, Kinsella introduces a new, currently nameless song, describing it as a ‘reaction to the hostile reception’ of the last album, ‘Origins’, saying that he had hoped for better. A tad peevish, perhaps? Anyhow, it rocked along nicely, followed by a fine ‘Fireflies…’ and then they were off. And then they were back, seconds later. Shortest break, ever. Three more, and done. Cheering and whooping. Happy crowd.

Someone will, later, describe the set as a ‘masterclass in progressive rock music’, and he’s bang on. GIAA are supremely tight and solid. Their musicianship is impeccable. But…

Personally – and bear in mind that this is only MY opinion – I’m finding my attention wandering. Maybe it’s because I can see bugger all, maybe it’s because I can hear little variation from song to song. To be sure, there were stand-out moments. ‘All is Violent..’ was a joy. ‘Fireflies…’ was brilliant, and the new song was fine, but all too much of the 100 minute set passed me by in a blur.

But, y’know, my opinion is the least important by far in the room tonight. The people whose opinions count - the audience, the fans - they love it. And that, dear reader, is what really matters.

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (SMZ for short) playing Glasgow had a variety of music fans foaming at the mouth. For myself their new marvellously named new album - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything - is not only their best yet but also one of the year's early stand outs. There was a mixture of devoted fans, and those curious to learn more of the GY!BE related group packed into Oran Mor. 

I was unsure what to expect live from SMZ to be honest. I perhaps wrongly thought the mood would be restrained and limited in crowd interaction. I couldn't have been more wrong however. 

Taking to the stage missing violinist Jessica Moss, Efrim stepped forward and announced "we're missing a violin player, talk among yourselves for now" It was a hint of his warmth and humour to come. When complete, the group launched into a set drawn mainly from the new album. The aforementioned Moss, and fellow violinist Sophie Trudeau took prominent positions either side of the stage, with Efrim and Thierry Amar more withdrawn behind. There was no shortage of performance or interaction however; Moss especially was a joy to watch. She played and sang impeccably while looking like she was enjoying every moment as much as us. At times speaking and smiling at those gathered down front, I found her difficult not to watch and her enthusiasm infectious. 

She wasn't the only focal point of the group; Efrim exudes a huge presence. Whether it was making playing seem effortless, or encouraging and feeding off his bandmates. Musically SMZ transcend genres, often during a track's lengthy duration. The title track of "Fuck Off..."  opened proceedings, transforming from its urgent folk-tinged start to massive stomping riffs. With swells of strings combining with the harmonic vocals, SMZ made it clear it would be a night full of astonishing moments.

Creating huge waves of sound, at times Efrim was like a conductor of the sonic delights we were treated to. I was compelled to close my eyes, bang my head and sway gently in equal doses throughout the evening. The chanted "..let my son live long enough to see that mountain torn down.." refrain in 'Austerity Blues'  was one of those times everything else fades into obscurity and you lose yourself.

Efrim continued to engage us between songs. Ranging from contempt of politicians and monarchs to witty explanations of minor technical issues. 

'What We Loved Was Not Enough' is one of my favourite recent tracks by anyone. Performed live it was awe-inspiring, creating a truly memorable and touching experience.

They finished with the gentle lullaby of "Little Ones Run". Probably written with Jessica & Efrim's young son in mind.  A documentary exploring their experience touring with their son has been made which you can see here.

As I get older and other commitments stack up I find my desire/ability to get out to shows gradually decreasing. Nights like this make you want to pack it all up and go searching and exploring endlessly for similar experiences however. If afforded the opportunity to see them do not pass it up.

The first thing I think when I walk into the Prince Bandroom for Clutch is 'damn there's a lot of solid beards here tonight'. If there's one thing that's underrated about these kind of gigs it has to be the beards. Oh boy, there's some quality here tonight.

Anyway... it's time for some music.

Warning up the room for us tonight is Melbourne four piece Don Fernando with their brand of balls to the wall rumbling rock. After a tough start to a relatively reserved room, they get things going really well towards the end of the set. As the crowd grows it’s clear the band is feeding off the energy in the room, building things up well as a support band.

As soon as these guys finish up their set the sold out room really starts to pack in fast and after some more beard watching and funky entrance music, it's time for the main event.

For those who aren't familiar with Clutch, They’re a four piece from Frederick, Maryland, have been around for almost twenty-five years releasing ten studio albums, the latest being 2013’s Earth Rocker. Their website describes them as ‘a damn good rock and roll band’.

These guys really get the room jumping. They can be funky, grungy, bluesy and metal all mixed with that raw stoner rock edge. It's hard at this show to know whether to get your dancing shoes on or bang your head. You're hit on so many levels all at once, but it just works.

Lead singer Neil Fallon is the undisputed star of the show. He works the stage and the room like he’s preaching to his followers. The audience is in the palm of his hand from the outset and with every lyric he sings and at times almost rants, you can’t help but be dragged along for the ride.

Throughout all of this, the thing that stands out for me from this band is that they're all about the riff. They sure do know how to get a quality groove going. I can’t help but feel as though so many of these riffs would not be out of place on a classic southern blues record, but what makes it so appealing is that they’re taking fundamentals from the classic blues, rock, grunge or whatever else they can find and making it hit you hard in the face time and time again with some serious raw power.

This was all in all a great quality show by these seasoned performers. I now know to not be afraid to get funky with my metal, grow a better beard, and go and see Clutch again whenever I have the chance. It’s a lot of fun.

Tonight is a triple bill of crossover thrash that could easily be labelled as the 'Done It, Doing It & Will Do it' considering the nature of each bands career.

The venue is a veritable jungle of battle jackets, denim, studs and hair as local thrashers Kremated ('will do it') to get the ball rolling and have obviously brought friends and fans in mass judging by the enthusiastic response from the first power-chord and the jovial mosh pit that starts halfway through the first song; makes a change from the support band receiving apathetic stares from the bar.

Aided and abetted by the front man Pete Dee’s banter with the assembled throng provides a cheerful atmosphere but the performance is all business with high quality up tempo tight thrash anthems including 'Thrash Aint Dead' and 'Bastards' but it’s the debut of a brand new song that sees them step up another level. Stand-up comic Andrew O’Neil head banging front row center must count as a seal of approval!

Crowd casualty list: nothing to report

No such frivolity from comeback kings Exhumed ('done it') who come out all guns blazing and immediately ignite the atmosphere with a performance of stunning ferocity that causes the crowd to loses its collective shit with circle pits and stage dives aplenty. New material from latest album Necrocracy such as a blistering ‘Coins Upon The Eyes’ rips perfectly comfortable with the older classic material such as ‘Necromantic’ and ‘Forged In Fire’.

Saying that after about twenty minutes into the set as one song fades out and another is about to kick in… a chainsaw wielding surgeon briefly runs amok the stage (the band are totally deadpan) to much amusement/bewilderment, about ten minutes later just as  Exhumed almost shoot themselves in the foot with an utterly pointless lengthy guitar solo, said guitarist fakes collapsing and the surgeon returns to perform CPR several times to a call and response chant with the crowd (the CPR fails but a beer bong successfully revives the guitarist) it’s totally ridiculous in context of the performance  but is all the more brilliant for it!

Crowd casualty list: One shoe and one bouncer

After such an barnstorming performance it’s up to Toxic Holocaust ('doing it') to follow that and after the first few songs it all seems rather tame in comparison with performance and atmosphere falling flat (the more excitable crowd members are still at the bar) however a ripping 'Wild Dogs' properly kicks the set into gear and all though they can’t match Exhumed in ferocity or Kremated’s joyful swagger this is more than made up for pure unbridled intensity, energy and hook laden RIFF-tastic anthems by the truckload. As songs like 'Lords Of The Wasteland'  'Nuke The Cross' 'In The Name of Science' 'War is Hell' and '666' attest quickly cooking the atmosphere up to and beyond insanity levels with crowd once again exploding in suitable fashion.

It’s also an odd experience that Toxic Holocaust are the most polished band on any thrash bill; it's nights like this I wish I still had long hair!

A quick encore break sees them finish with a scorching 'Bitch' that suitably rounds off several hours exhilarating heavy metal.

Crowd casualty list: two different shoes, one bouncer, a trucker hat and some hair!?

Unintended comic timing: purchased a Toxic Holocaust 'Nuke The Cross' t-shirt that depicts Jesus on the cross being hit by a nuke (Yup charming) whilst wearing a Bad Religion t-shirt that depicts Jesus riding a Nuke (Dr Strangelove Style).

Strangeforms Festival

19th & 20th April 2014 - Wharf Chambers, Leeds

Tickets

The Strangeforms line up is pretty much a who's who of bands we've been banging on about here at Echoes And Dust for the last few years, so when it was announced we knew we just had to have a chat with Bad Owl Promotions's Stewart & Kerry to find out more.

(((o))): Can you give us some background on Bad Owl? How long have you been putting on shows etc?

Kerry: It all started in May 2012. Basically, a friend of Stewart's from back home in Ayrshire got in touch as her husband's band, What The Blood Revealed, were looking to play a show in Leeds. We didn't really have many promoter contacts so decided we'd put the gig on ourselves. We enjoyed it so much we decided to continue! Since then we've put on 20 shows. We put on bands we love and we work on a not-for-profit basis, so any money made on the door after the promotion and venue costs are covered goes back to the bands.

(((o))): How have you found life at the coal face of grass roots music promotion, if you’ll excuse the mixed metaphor?

Stewart: It can be stressful at times with regards to knowing you need to try and get enough people interested in your shows to ensure you have enough money to pay the bands (we've had to put our hands in our own pockets on a few occasions but we'd much rather do that than let a band go away empty-handed) but, on the whole, we find it to be a really rewarding experience. There's a lot of joy in introducing a new band to a crowd who, otherwise, might never have heard them. We love being able to hang out with the bands before and after shows too which really only happens at this level of music promotion.

(((o))): With that in mind, what made you want to step up & take on something as large as Strangeforms?

K: The idea came from Stewart, really. A lot of the bands we've put on over the past 18 months have played and toured with each other, and we felt that it would be amazing to have them all in the same place at the same time. It's also a bit of a temporary grand finale for us, as after StrangeForms we're taking some time out of putting on shows for a while, whilst we explore other avenues and adventures.

S: As Kerry says, the idea of having so many amazing bands on the one bill was really exciting to us. Our friends in Himself had asked before if it was something we had ever thought of but, at the time, we felt it was too big a step up for us. It was probably after spending such a fantastic weekend at ArcTanGent and seeing all those incredible bands play together that we thought we'd love to have a go at trying to re-create that kind of buzz up North but, obviously on a much, much smaller scale.

(((o))): Arctangent does seem to have inspired quite a few people! The scene seems to have been slowly coalescing over the last few years but my feeling was that ATG really brought it together & gave people a sense of identity; would you agree with that?

S: Absolutely. There was a real communal feeling at ArcTanGent and you knew you were part of something really special. With most other festivals there's usually one or two bands that you definitely want to see with the others being bands you'll watch out of curiosity or to pass the time whereas, from our experience, many people felt that ArcTanGent seemed curated almost specifically for them.

K: Most other genres have a pretty healthy choice of festivals, weekenders and all-dayers, so it was amazing to have something which catered for the post-rock scene. I'd never seen a line up like it. The atmosphere there was brilliant.

(((o))): How have you found the scale up to Strangeforms? Are you doing things differently to what you'd do with a normal show?

K: It's not too dissimilar to a normal show I guess, just takes a bit more thinking about! The main concerns are things like making sure we stick to schedule and have enough time for change overs etc. Inevitably there'll be the odd hiccup but we've got a pretty ace team of friends who each have a role to play over the course of the weekend so fingers crossed everything should go to plan. We've been amazed at how far some people are coming from (we've sold tickets to people in Italy (our very  own Dani ;)) and Germany) so there's a little more added pressure than usual on us to get it right.

S: Yeah, we'll probably feel quadruple the stress we normally do at a show but the fact that we've previously worked with around half the StrangeForms acts will hopefully set as a bit at ease. Although Bad Owl is essentially the two of us we've had so many offers from friends and bands to help us out over the weekend that we're sure everything will go as close to plan as possible.

(((o))): I'm sure we've all played a bit of fantasy festivals in our time. If money was no object, what would your dream StrangeForms lineup be?

S: I'd have most of the usual suspects on there like 65DaysOfStatic, Mogwai, And So I Watch You From Afar, Russian Circles, Adebisi Shank etc. I'd throw some money and nice tasting biscuits at Humanfly and What The Blood Revealed to get them to reform and play then I'd put on all the bands that have ever played for us before, ensuring they were handsomely paid and finally I'd get a 'guilty pleasure' band on that I wouldn't often get the chance to see. Probably Paramore.

K: Gah, the pressure of a name! As well as all the bands we've ever had play for Bad Owl (and all the names Stewart got in there first with), I'd ask Slint, Red Sparowes, Pelican, Maybeshewill, That Fucking Tank and Fugazi, and then I'd get Echelon Effect to play us his lullabies to help us cope with the post-festival comedown. I'd also get This Et Al, Spy vs Spy, Engine Down and Yourcodenameis:Milo to reform and play a special pre-festival show. Just for me.

(((o))): If April is a success, and I think it will be, can we expect to see StrangeForms as a regular addition to the festival calendar?

S: Absolutely - that's definitely the hope.

(((o))): You said earlier you're going to take a break from promoting after StrangeForms to work on other things. Can you share any of your plans with us?

S: Yes, we're really excited to now be working alongside Leeds post-metal act, Envoys. They're such good guys, not to mention extremely talented and we've become good friends with them through having had them grace our gig nights on several occasions over the past 18 months. We'll be lending a helping hand with things like booking gigs and generally promoting them to, hopefully, a wider audience. They genuinely are one of our favourite bands at the moment and we're really looking forward to show them off at StrangeForms - their live performance is a genuine joy to behold. Kerry has given me the go ahead to join them on their European tour at the beginning of April, which should be a lot of fun.

K: Whilst Stewart is sampling European delights with Envoys I'm going into the studio to record a couple of tracks myself. My old band (Laboratory Noise) are taking a bit of a break at the moment, so as well as that I'm going to be singing for a couple of other artists, which I'm really excited about.

(((o))): I think that's about it really. Anything else you want to share with the world before we sign off?

S: We'd just like to say that we've had a lovely time and that we really appreciate the support from all you lovely people at Echoes & Dust. And that if any of your readers would like a ticket for StrangeForms then they can pick them up at www.badowl.bigcartel.com - make us happy!

K: What he said! Thank you for having us x

Thanks guys. A small number of day tickets are now available. Get 'em while they're hot!

Saturday - Sunday

John Helps is all things to all people: moving effortlessly between Maybeshewill guitarist, Her Name Is Calla bassist, promoter, producer, music lover and all-round nice guy, for the past two years he's also been heavily involved with Handmade Festival in Leicester. We caught up with him to find out a bit more about this year's event and what, exactly, an event curator actually does.

(((O))) This is Handmade's second year, is that correct? Tell us a bit about how the festival came about; what was the ethos behind it and how did you set it in motion?

That’s right. Last year we learnt that Leicester wouldn't have a large scale music festival anymore after Summer Sundae closed its doors - that was a really big part of the city’s musical calendar and one of the few things that lots of people would come out and get involved with. We didn't aspire to replicate or replace it, but we wanted there to be something to bring the city’s musical community together in some small way. The event came to fruition in a very short period of time really, with a lot of help from friends, other promoters, bands, artists… It was a very rewarding time. We’d been running an event called White Noise Festival before, curated exclusively by Maybeshewill and comprised only of Leicester based artists previously and it grew out of that but with added national acts and a bit more ambition.

The ethos is that it’s a ‘curated’ event put together by people that really give a fuck about what they’re doing. It’s not an event that can ever make a lot of money so we have to do it to make it the best event we can. That’s the impetus behind it, and the sole driving force I guess. Hopefully we go some way towards achieving that.

(((O))) How did last year's event go? What were the highlights? Was there anything you didn't feel went quite as well as you'd hoped?

Last year was surprisingly awesome. Surprising in that we genuinely didn't know what to expect and had put everything together in such a short time. It’s so hard to pick highlights, but the double whammy of Tall Ships and Dutch Uncles closing the festival in the downstairs bar at Firebug was totally magic. Rolo Tomassi headlining the Friday night was a personal favourite as well as Katie Malco playing in Bishop Street Church. So much so that we've asked her back to do the same again this year after she released one of my records of the year last year.

(((O))) What's your aim for this year in terms of the feel of the event? Are you going for 'Bigger Better Brighter' or 'Close-Knit Community’?

It’ll be similar to last year. It’s all very DIY and we have to beg borrow and steal various things to make the event happen so it will never be a corporate sponsored, pristine, shiny set up, but it’s got some real personality which I think comes across. We put pop-up stages in weird places like libraries and historic buildings so compromises have to be made, but all to make the festival as good as it can be and to make it as interesting as possible.

(((O))) What does the title of "event curator" actually mean? Are you involved in actually booking the bands, or do you just have to draw up a wishlist of people you'd like to play?!

Ha ha! I book the bands. I also pick 90% of them with help from our partner curators which this year include ArcTanGent and 2000 Trees, Alcopop and Big Scary Monsters. I pretty much start with a wish list and then work my way through it. It tends to be people I've met through Maybeshewill, bands I've been putting on for years and people I've always wanted to bring to Leicester. It works pretty well I think.

(((O))) There's been a bit of a rash of post-rock / math-rock / post-metal festivals springing up recently - Beyond The Redshift immediately springs to mind, and the most high-profile example is probably ArcTanGent, which also celebrated its inaugural year in 2013 (and which Maybeshewill performed at, of course). Do you think this is representative of a growing fan base for what is arguably less-accessible, more cerebral music? Is it simply a response to the growing number of bands within these genres? Or do you think the demand has always been there, and there simply haven't been events to cater for it in the past?

I don’t have a clue! We never really intended to be that kind of event - The majority of last years acts certainly wouldn't fall in to that category - but i suppose because of Maybeshewill’s involvement that was inevitable in some of the choices. There have always been smaller scale events like Off The Cuff going on and a large part of 2000 Trees was dedicated to that, so maybe people are just seeing that that audience really cares about it’s music and is willing to travel huge distances for the right bill? It’s not something I thought about - this is just the music I’m in to.

(((O))) What are the best and worst things about curating a festival?

The best thing is getting to enforce your music taste upon a city and then to stand there at the end of the weekend and watch the last act with a pint. The worst thing for me is that for about 4 months of the year I’m virtually impossible to talk to. There is so much information to be processed and so many decisions I have to make that I can’t really communicate properly about anything else. Jamie from Maybeshewill observed how much worse my memory gets in the run up to the event.

(((O))) What are you most looking forward to about Handmade Festival this year? Is there one band you're particularly excited about having on the line-up? 

I love all of the line-up which is a brilliant position to be in. Finally getting And So I Watch You From Afar back to Leicester to headline Friday night is a bit of a personal goal achieved - having toured with them years ago and then watched them grow in to the monster they are today has been very pleasing. Haiku Salut and Katie Malco in Bishops Street Church will be MAGIC and some of the stuff I haven’t been able to announce yet is very exciting.

(((O))) Will you even be able to see any of the event?! Talk us through what the weekend will be like for you.

Last year I got to see a fair bit. I do have to prioritise and be on call for when something goes wrong, but usually I can relax a bit once every things have actually kicked off. I spent most of Saturday watching lovely music in Bishop Street Church and hopping between the pop-up venues making sure everything felt right. I organise a lot of the volunteers as well so I pop round and check everyone's okay. I do just look like I’m walking about talking to people not looking very busy while everyone else runs about looking worried though.

(((O))) I'm sure this year's festival is top of your mind at the moment, but have you started thinking at all about 2015?

I've never guaranteed that it’s an ongoing thing, so after this one's over I’ll start thinking about if it will happen again. I like to keep the city on its toes. It’s the biggest thing I do each year though, and I do love it to bits.

(((O))) If money, location and prior commitments were no object, what would your dream line-up be for Handmade Festival?

Between the last two years I’ve got pretty close to an achievable dream line up. I’d like to bring Blakfish, Oceansize, Colour and Reuben back from the dead as headliners though. Maybe get Biffy Clyro to do Vertigo of Bliss in full. Mogwai doing Hardcore Will Never Die in full?

Early Bird tickets for Handmade Festival 2014 are currently available at the absolute bargain price of £25 - get one before they all go! 

What made the decision for me about going to Beyond the Redshift was the double-bill of AmenRa and Syndrome. I saw AmenRa recently, preparing festival-goers in the Netherlands for the all-out drone of SunnO))), and they were suitably noisily entrancing, but even more interesting for me is Syndrome, the ambient, droney project of AmenRa’s Mathieu Vandekerckhove. With a fairly small set-up but a vast and atmospheric sound Syndrome is evocatively cavernous, while remaining subtle enough to attend to the fine details of gently-picked melodies amidst the soundscapes. All of which is often complemented by some fine images which perfectly match the sound: monochrome, expansive visuals with delicate, almost insignificant movements which bring to life the scale and sense of profundity.

Actually, though, part of what I’m looking forward to most is seeing some bands which I don’t know well (or haven’t even heard at all yet) but which have made themselves known to me from reputation amongst friends or a general buzz in the usual places online. Being more familiar with Gorgoroth and the unique Wardruna than God Seed, I’ll enjoy assessing Gaahl’s return to all-out black metal vocals.

Similarly, I’ve generally been more concerned with Justin K Broadrick’s churning industrial noise in Godflesh than with the more introspective-seeming Jesu, so that will be another world of atmosphere (backed up with implications of powerful noise) to explore. Another musician who is better known to me by an alias is Dirk Serries, otherwise recording as meditative, Nadja-collaborating, slowburn sombre drone wanderer Fear Falls Burning, a project which seems to have drawn to a close. Coming in the wake of Serries moving on to release of two different sets of recordings under the headings Microphonics (sets I-XXV) and Stream of Consciousness (so far four collections), this is another chance to see an established experimenter into heavy sounds taking the opportunity to redirect or redefine an approach to their music.

A brief listen to some of the other bands on the bill unearths some more intriguing propositions, with different sounds and taking different approaches to their music, but all with a dramatic sense of scale: the sparkly, unearthly shimmer of God is an Astronaut promises a hazy, dreamlike experience; sleepmakeswaves visit from Australia with their ‘love songs about delay pedals’; and Bossk’s postrock hymns will have been honed by touring with Old Man Gloom then A Storm of Light before playing at the festival.

From Syndrome’s finely drawn, thoughtful but widescreen projections, to God Seed’s return to old school values, to Jesu’s fiercely controlled metallic epics, to whatever grand scheme Cult of Luna are plotting, Beyond the Redshift promises a sensory overload, absorption into the heaviest of atmospheres.

I love Austin. I have bias towards the city since I have spent most of my childhood and adult life here, but in my travels around the world, I always want to come back to Austin because I think it is the greatest place I have ever been to. 

The music scene is what I really like most about it, the music festivals most of all. All of the great Austin music fests have really come up from small venues to now bigger and better with great artists. 

Austin Psych Fest is one of those festivals. Now in their seventh year, this year they have booked a solid line-up. In the past two years they have moved from playing indoor venues with a handful of bands, to moving to Carson Creek Ranch. However, they remain true towards their initial goal of bringing the best in psychedelic, doom, and heavy music.

I have been going to the festival for the past three years and it continuously blows me away. They event planners really do a great job in having the best bands they can, the best atmosphere, and of course the best vendors. I am really looking forward to being able to cover this event and write about my experience this year. But even if I wasn't writing about it, I would have definitely gone anyway with the great number of bands on the line-up for 2014.

Last year the line-up was great. The price I paid for the ticket really was worth seeing so many great bands in one awesome venue. Carson Creek Ranch really complemented the atmosphere of the big Texas sky and rocking music. 

While as I type this the 2014 line-up isn't final, it already contains bands like Barn Owl, Graveyard, Mono, Liars, The Black Lips, Acid Mothers Temple, Earthless, White Hills, Kadavar...just way too many mind blowing acts. All in three days deep in the heart of Texas! 

If you are in the area from May 2nd- 4th, it is worth going to check out this festival. You will not have a bad time. In fact you will be awed, you will have some great food, and some great drinks. 

I really am excited for this year and I am sure after this Austin Psych Fest, I will be even more amped for next year. KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD!

On a cold February night, The Family Rain coaxed a sizeable number of the good people of Islington out for what turned out to be an explosive evening of blues-infused rock.

Indeed, the title of their debut album, Under the Volcano, suggests a band in tune with the rhythms of Mother Nature, and so the Walter brothers proved in a visceral live performance.

The three lads from Bath were surprisingly clean in appearance, however, with no signs of lava or volcanic ash about their sharp, retro outfits.

But when the three-piece band let rip with furious torrents of finely-tuned rock ‘n roll, accompanying the joyful, throaty vocals of frontman Will Walter, a surge of excitement was felt throughout the medium-sized venue.

Download Vulpicide for free here

In contrast to the boys’ clean-cut attire, the dark, growling bassline on Reason to Die was downright filthy, thanks to Will, who doubles up as a bad-ass bass-man. By the time the la-la-la chorus kicked in, it felt like the soundtrack to a troupe of swamp monsters dancing on Howling Jimmy Jefferson’s grave. Meanwhile guitarist Ollie unleashed a whole load of West Country aggression in a thrilling solo in crowd-pleasing track Trust Me...I’m a Genius.

There was an obvious rapport between the audience and floppy-haired Will, who waved cans of Stella around and coaxed some veritable cheering at various points throughout the set. He instigated an instant sing-a-long to the catchy Don’t Waste your Time on Me, while Friction, from an early EP, won a big reaction.

Comparisons with Kings of Leon have been made by music industry types already, and at times, Will appeared to borrow heavily from Caleb Followill’s vocal drawl, particularly on album track Together.

Under the Volcano, well worth a listen, tackles some weighty issues. At turns the lyrics deal with relationship woes on Together, as well as coming to terms with masculine vulnerability –even staring death in the face on All the Best. On the basis of a superb debut and memorable performance at the Garage, The Family Rain are bound to continue winning plenty of admirers.

As for me, I’m off to chase swamp monsters round Hackney Marshes with Under the Volcano on my MP3 player.

Tonight’s adventure has an interesting sense of a family get together for me as the three bands on the bill all have had connections between each other in the last couple of years.

• Wolves Like Us and Junius have previously toured together.
• Junius and Long Distance Calling have both supported Katatonia on recent tours.
• Long Distance Calling have played this very venue supporting Maybeshewill.

So a triple win of a line up to begin with but the main purpose is for Long Distance Calling to continue promoting the rather marvellous 2013 album The Flood Inside.

Opening proceedings to an already sizeable and appreciative crowd is Norwegian troupe Wolves Like Us. My previous encounter found them was underpowered by the vocalist being struck by illness but happily tonight they are on fine form and power through their set of infectious post-hardcore with tracks form their new album Black Soul Choir sitting comfortably with the Late Love material.

Wolves Like Us

Also peddling new material are American atmospheric doom merchants Junius whose crushingly heavy yet finely crafted melancholic odes have always been brilliant in my previous encounters and tonight is no exception. Intriguingly throwing in a curveball from the start, as they DON’T open with their best song ‘Betray The Grave’ (in fact I’m not sure they even played it!) but delve into their back catalogue to open with ‘Hiding Knives’ form their self- titled album. It’s a slow start but the performance gathers substantial momentum as reaches its climax with three tracks from the new EP Days of the Fallen Sun weaving perfectly into their existing repertoire especially the stunning dual harmonies of ‘Forging The Cleansing Meteor’.

Junius

Another superb effort that would put to shame most bands in the unfortunate position to follow them…

“Tell me why did you come to our planet?”
“YOUR Planet?”
“Yes, this is OUR planet.”

…But most bands are not Long Distance Calling

“No… It is not!”

These German (mostly) instrumentalists have over the last few years honed their live performance into a fine art and once again they hit the ground running with ‘Into The Black Wide Open’ and proceed to run through an hour of extremely high quality post metal RIFFAGE, as well as technical ability what amplifies the performance above similar bands and provides a connection with the assembled crowd is their undoubted visible enthusiasm in playing live.

Although promoting their new album the set list covers the last three albums equally and one of my favourite tracks ‘Black Paper Planes’ sounds absolutely colossal!

The keyboardist performs vocal duties on ‘Inside The Flood’ and ‘The Man Within’ from behind his keyboards rather than front and centre (most likely due to stage restrictions) and we are even treated to a brand new song (simply called Song “Keyboardin” on the setlist), which sounds like Slayer doesn’t mess with the winning formula.

Amusingly the majority of the heavy RIFF sections throughout the set were accompanied by frantic strobes which mixed with the bright neon green venue sign made for a neat psychedelic side effect!

So yes a thoroughly fantastic evening showcasing top level post-metal all around and worth missing Dozer and Lowrider further up the road! 

Adam Nodwell has been a huge part of the Leeds DIY scene for some time now. Amongst the chaos of sorting out this year’s British Wildlife Festival festival (now in it’s EIGHTH year!) between 7th-9th March, he took what little time of his own to answer a few questions for us.

(((o))): Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Adam! How are things?

Very good thanks, letting time get the better of me a bit, just about to sort out a few extra surprises for the festival!

(((o))): Let's start things off with some history of British Wildlife for those who may not (yet) know about it, care to enlighten those people?

I started BWF 8 years ago, embarrassingly the first one was called 'British Wildlife's Big Fat Weekend'. Slightly more embarrassingly the second one I called 'British Wildlife's Big Fat Number 2'. Thankfully the third was 'British Wildlife Festival_3' and it has stuck since.

(((o))): As a DIY promoter, do you prefer to be approached by bands, or do you go out there and ask the bands you'd like to put on yourself? Maybe a mixture of both?

A mixture of both, though I get approached by more bands than I can count in a bag of skittles. When it comes to the festival It tends to be 70% or so bands I have already tested the water with and generally already know personally, then I stick a few wildcards in there for good measure. I like to keep it fresh, when criticized for putting too many obvious choices on, I’ll react by booking something no one has heard of (but should).

(((o))): You must put in a shitload of hours to put on so many great shows! Where do you find the time? Does anyone else get involved?

People have come and gone and I do like to collaborate with other people, Nathan at the Brudenell has helped me over the years, Nick at Oporto too, and I have collaborated with Vessels and That Fucking Tank as co-curators as well.

(((o))): Do you remember the very first show you put on? How does that compare to where you are with things these days?

Yep, it was on 16th January 2006. These Monsters , University friends, headlined with Meet Me in St Louis supporting. My second show was Liars as TJ's (Woodhouse Liberal Club) which was timelessly captured as the front cover for their fourth album Liars. I have a photo of the photographer taking the photo that was used, trippy!

(((o))): How does the DIY scene differ from way back then to these days?

I don't check my myspace messages as regularly!

(((o))): This years British Wildlife Festival is fast approaching with another fine line up over three days, how's the preparation going? That's a lot of bands to be looking after!

Where to start! Well I have almost finished designing the program, it's nice and foldy. Stage times are sorted, I'm expecting a few changes still as usual. Other than that I'm ready to go, need to get the word out a bit more, if you are reading this, thanks very much, pass it on!

(((o))): Are there still tickets available? Apart from the bands, what else can people look forward to?

There are still plenty of tickets available, I'm not putting on Sting. Prince may make an appearance, he may not. There will be cake, some good food vans, maybe a BBQ if the weather is nice, I suppose there's still a risk of snow. March is a random month for weather.

We are also having the first ever "Awkward Family Photo Booth" That should be fun.

(((o))): As an ongoing theme in my interviews, I'm throwing this out there to everyone. Guess the song if you can (should be easy), then answer in another lyric: "Can you feel my Love Buzz?"

Nirvana! My answer: “I can feel it coming in the air tonight!”

(((o))): We're all about sharing new music with our readers, is there anything you can recommend to them?

Like Steve Albini said at Shellac's ATP back in December 2012. All the bands are amazing!!!! So go grab a glass of wine, sit back relax and enjoy all the bands - I have made a Spotify playlist of all the bands and also provided plenty of links on my website.

(((o))): Finally, what's next for British Wildlife? Any future plans?

Once we're over the hill there's plans to get involved in a few existing events in Leeds that I can't disclose as it's not set in stone. I'm also getting married in August so that's exciting!

(((o))): Muchos Gracias for this! All the best to ya!

Buy Tickets! www.britishwildlife.info I'm going now BYE!

Just over two months ago on December 1st, 2013, The Red Paintings played in Edinburgh and last Sunday they were back already. There are local bands that don’t play Edinburgh that often, and knowing that The Red Paintings come all the way from Australia makes this a respectful feat; in my books at least. Last time they played a short set supporting Mindless Self Indulgence, and this time they were playing a headline show, so I was quite excited to see a longer set and show and at quite a small venue. Sneaky Pete’s is a very different venue than the Liquid Room though, as it is one of the smaller Edinburgh venues. Having played at Sneaky Pete’s numerous times myself I know very well how ‘big’ the stage is and I was curious to see how The Red Paintings were going to fit their band, stage props and human canvases and painters all on a stage of about 10 square meters in space.

But before I got to find out the stage was set up for two local bands. It was nice to see local talent supporting a big touring band and first up were Universal Thee, a five piece who played a pleasant and cheerful mix of indie pop/rock songs. They have 2 vocalists, one female and one male, and at times this gave them a bit of a Belle and Sebastian sound. Their latest single ‘Aranis Natas’ was a highlight of their set and it made me very happy to see them play with joy and lots of fun. It is all about the fun and they demonstrated this very well. The second support band was Pilotcan and similar to Universal Thee I had not heard of this band before. Their music was a bit more alternative and rockier, reminding me at times of Teenage Fanclub and Dinosaur Jr, mixed in with a bit of new wave. They played well, but they didn’t smile as much as Universal Thee though. Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing them again

At this point The Red Painting’s frontman Trash McSweeney was waiting in the venue to get the stage set up for his gig and I asked him how they were going to fit everything on the stage, to which Trash laughed and replied that they had to cut down a fair bit of the new Egyptian themed show. Drummer Andy Davis was dead serious about the stage size and the venue and he just said that it was going to be a fucking loud one. Good, I like loud gigs.

After a 10 minutes delay due to some technical problems with the bass, The Red Paintings kicked off with an older song, ‘Feed the Wolf’, which set the scene quite nicely. The sound was a bit of a mix still during this opening song, but that soon changed during ‘It Is As It Was’, taken off their latest album The Revolution Is Never Coming. I had anticipated a big crowd considering the press they have been getting over the last couple of months and successfully touring with Mindless Self Indulgence, but to my surprise only around 40 people managed to challenge the Scottish winter gales and make it out on a Sunday night. Actually, maybe not that surprising after all as it was a Sunday night in Edinburgh, not a night of the week known for a vibrant live music scene.

Anyway, one thing that differed from the last time when I saw The Red Paintings was that they didn’t have their cellist on stage this time, maybe she didn’t come on tour with the band or after seeing the stage size they might have decided to not include her in tonight’s performance. But it put violinist Alix Kol more in the spotlight and she played fanatically through the set, which contained more songs of The Revolution Is Never Coming, such as ‘Dead Children’, a beautiful version of ‘Streets Fell Into My Window’, ‘The Revolution Is Never Coming’ and ‘Wasps’. We got treated on a new song that will feature on the next album named ‘Arctic Is Screaming’, a song drawing the attention and focus on the decline of the Arctic polar bear population. Due to the slight delay at the start of the gig and Trash being on good form chatting to the audience in between songs, time was unfortunately running out and they didn’t manage to get to play their full set. Asking the audience what song they wanted to hear they finished the night with their cover of ‘Mad World’, with the majority of the crowd singing along. Unfortunately they had to stop there (that bloody Edinburgh 10pm curfew again!) as they nearly played ‘Hong Kong’, one of my favourite tracks on the album.

So, we got a headline show that contained “only” 8 songs. Thought the intimacy was fantastic and it was great to be able to see this amazing band on a small stage at a small venue. I’m not sure this will happen again in the future as they will no doubt get bigger, especially with their second album hopefully coming out this year. Trash showed what a real gentleman he is by taking his time for every person at the gig after the show, signing various merchandise items and getting on photos and just having a nice chat to the band’s fans.

Hopefully The Red Paintings will come back soon again as I will be there for sure!

Even though I’ve always been told that Brescia, North of Italy, is a nice, historical town I’ve never been there before until yesterday when I finally attended a show I had been looking forward to for a long time. It was therefore also my first time at Circolo Colony and should you be in the mood for some live heavy rock and metal - with the possibility to enjoy a good beer as well - then Circolo Colony is definitely able to satisfy your appetite.

I have to admit that when I read the lineup I realized that I didn't know the two bands supporting and touring all over Europe in the same sleeping coach with Alcest and I was very curious about them.

The Fauns, the opening band, is a British 5- pieces band from Bristol that play a nice indie noisepop, as they define their sound. They played mainly songs from Lights, their second long record  that represents a major leap forward from 2009's self-titled debut album. Centered on Alison Garner's evocative, breathy vocals, their performance was really lovely passing through atmospheric and pop sounds that pleased the audience. Gorgeous electronic sound and  guitar riffs over atmospheric chords were constant and I liked their performance and I enjoyed their music apart from those moments when they displayed pop tendencies. For sure the crowd appreciated their catchy melodies. A little peculiarity from the stage: a Ferrari Testarossa toy model sticked at the microphone stand of Alison...a present or a talisman?

The Fauns

Second band on the bill was Hexvessel, an act with which I was woefully unfamiliar. Hexvessel is a band from the forest of Finland and, as the Englishman Mat McNerneythey, founder and singer of the band, cited “forests exist in nature but sometimes they do exist also in your mind”. Before starting playing they made up a star with scotch tape on the floor where Mat stood and they applied a sticker on the mike with written “defend the wilderness”.  I was positively surprised about them (and their dressing too!) and they picked my interest with their nice weird mix of psychedelic folk-rock  that is unique and definitely enchanting; they did a fantastic job of setting the mood for the rest of the night. They moved, they danced and the energy that Hexvessel displayed is an absolute joy to watch and now I definitely have to  give a close listen to them.

Hexvessel

Change of scene and  with perfect timing Alcest got on the stage. The parallel existence of the composer/ singer/ guitarist Neige was finally in front of me and all the people around me felt silent waiting for the first notes. 'Wings' followed by 'Opale' took the floor and we immediately entered into another world, a world of darkness with rays of lights here and there so deep and so moving that you cannot keep a straight face. Less than one song in and I was stunned by Alcest’s beautiful music. At the center of the stage with a banana wrapped with a sticker to his microphone stand, Neige himself represents the scene. There's no need of special effects because his presence and his amazing and powerful voice do the job.

Alcest

Each of the accompanying musicians plays in an amazingly tight synergy (and their long hairs move in synergy too!) and the crowd reacted with unchecked excitement and I was in front of one of the best symbiotic relationships between band and audience that I’d seen in a long time.

The set list was absolutely fantastic and it was a great mix of new and old material, with songs from the last beautiful shoegaze album Shelter (album review here), from Les Voyages de l'Âme, l' Écailles de Lune and Souvenirs d'un autre monde, so pleasing all of us that travelled from everywhere for the only one Italian date of the tour. One of the thing that impressed and I really didn't expect is the wide range of ages in the audience – I was standing next to a 20 year old girl and a 60 year old woman that knew all the songs and confessed to me that she once traveled to Paris for Alcest: this is the power of music!.... there's no difference when you are in front of music like the one that Neige is able to create. And from the tears provoked by 'Voix Sereines' to the joy transmitting 'Shelter'; I'm really happy about that emotional involvement.

I'm still in love with 'Autre temps' and my astonishment achieved its peak with 'Percées de Lumière' from my favorite album – maybe because this record has a darker and a much more somber tone in comparison to the brighter and happier sounding records in Alcest’s discography. Believe  me folks, this song is excellent, yes, but played live is something unforgettable. And I won't forget it.

We all moved from darkness to the fairy land of ' Souvenirs d'un autre monde' and there was an overall magic emotion I already miss.

Complete adulation of the public was what happened with the closing 'Delivrance' and the magic enchanting shoegaze music of Alcest delivered something extraordinary. Neige alone on the stage at the end of it was the show.

I already attended several gig this year but this was my favorite by far. The other gigs were shows, this one was a matter of emotion and the most beautiful souvenir I could ever receive. At the end of everything, Hexvessel jumped on the scene dancing a sort of cowboy saloon dance...it was the celebration of the bands, of the crowd, of the music.