The latest issue of the Full Pelt Magazine is here, and you can download your copy for free below!
Volume 11 features cover stars Massive Wagons as they kicked off their UK Tour this week. We also review live shows from Millie Manders and the Shutup, Bob Vylan and Lonely The Brave.
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Neck Deep, Heriot, The Dollyrots, Guise, Defects, BIG SPECIAL, BLACKGOLD, Gen and the Degenerates and Greywind!
Plus new live announcements from Joanne Shaw Taylor, The Zutons, Tool, Lightning Seeds, The Nightmares, Dirty Honey and Peter Hook & The Light!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with Hunter Oliveri, The Cain Pit and Creature Cult!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the fourth issue now for free!
Volume four includes an update from cover stars Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, reviews of new albums from Black Stone Cherry and King Nun, a live review of Theory of a Deadman plus a special feature on the upcoming Ash vs The Subways tour!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Neck Deep, Within Temptation, Europe, Lake Malice, Filth Is Eternal, Nervosa and Sum 41!
Plus new live announcements from Yard Act, James, Nothing More, VUKOVI, Lynks and The Longest Johns.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with Spiritual Cramp, Butterfly Hurricane and Grove Street!
Festival season is in full swing and rock fans once again descend on Upcote Farm in Cheltenham for 2000trees! A true music fans festival, this year there is an absolute smorgasbord of the best new and established acts to savour across three full days of relentless entertainment.
However, before the event proper begins though those with early entry have an additional evening of music on tap in the beautiful forest area. The ‘Forest Stage’ has always been a unique and special feature of this festival which is now on its fifteenth iteration.
Wednesday
The privilege of opening the festivities this year goes to Snayx who, despite playing whilst many are still pitching their tents, still attract an eager and excited crowd. The band are able to seize upon this excitement to whip the crowd up even further with their brand of punk rock. A benchmark is set for the weekend early here and thankfully the organisers have a bill curated to ensure that the quality never drops!
The other stage in operation today is the small ‘The Word’ stage which over the weekend will host various activities such as further bands, live podcasts, comedians and more. Over the next few hours we are able to catch delighted spots from B-Sydes, Masca, Polyanna and Gaz Brookfield.
Over on the ‘Forest Stage’ though, the handful of selected bands combine to deliver a highly memorable evening. Delaire the Liar are up next and are able to continue to build their growing reputation with another assured performance.
A real special moment follows as one of the most talented yet underappreciated bands of the last decade Press To MECO play their final show. Such a moment really deserved a bigger stage and longer setlist but those present are able to bathe in those glorious riffs one more time with an emotional ‘A Test of Our Resolve’ a highlight of the whole festival.
Thank you for everything, we love you all. R.I.PTM 💛@2000trees
Next are a band just getting started. Saint Agnes are tipped as the future of rock music by some, and again on the evidence of their set tonight those people are very much correct! Debut album ‘Bloodsuckers’ can’t arrive soon enough; thankfully we only need to wait on July 21st!
The latest Tigercub album is already out and next up the band bring ‘The Perfume of Decay’ to life with a solid showing as the forest area begins to fill up in anticipation of the nights two headline acts.
Both Holding Absence and Bob Vylan will play two sets over the weekend but before gracing the main stage, they both thrill those packed into the woods! Holding Absence are first and they captivate the crowd with a cleverly selected mix of rarities and fan favourites. This band continues to grow and evolve and it’s scary how good they could be.
Bob Vylan also continue to elevate the game with their headline set tonight they bring carnage to the forest! A spectacular off the cuff collection of on point punk rock more than whets the appetite for their main stage appearance, even showing that they aren’t too far away from being able to headline the biggest stage next time they play the festival.
THURSDAY
Each night the now infamous silent disco takes over the site as the party continues into the early hours, but come Thursday morning the arrival of the rest of the attendees ensure even the first act of the day, Blush Puppy on the ‘Forest Stage’ get a good turnout. The duo perform a delightful run-through of adapted favourites which starts the first full day off perfectly.
With the outdoor stage, three tented stages and the ‘Forest Stage’ all rotating throughout each day an avid music fan can fill their boots with live music and literally catch non-stop music for nigh on sixteen hours a day if they wanted to. We don’t quite have that stamina but we give it a good go and are rewarded by great sets from Kite Thief, Beach Riot and Gaffa Tape Sandy.
Following that run we then head to first catch recent ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast guests CARSICK over on the ‘NEU Stage’. The group proceed to smash through their set to the delight of those present with the likes of ‘Anaconda Frank’ showing real bite.
Another act to impress early in the weekend are Lake Malice in ‘The Cave’. The group have been winning over all who see them this summer and their future appears to be very bright indeed.
Thank you @2000trees_festival that was incredible 🖤
You made our debut appearance a special one 🫶
Next malicious festival is @rdrfestival on 30th July. Link in bio for 🎫
Lambrini Girls, Graphic Nature and the official debut of new group Unpeople who have formed from the ashes of Press To MECO all follow and continue to hot run of great sets. Unpeople in particular are able to really tease what is to come and make a fantastic first impression.
The main stage soon literally takes centre stage as first Kid Kapichi and then Bob Vylan deliver two of the sets of the weekend. Kid Kapichi are effortless in their delivery of impassioned punk rock which sees an endless sea of crowd surfers on an inflatable burger! Bob Vylan then reinforce the message that their headline set sent last night, that the duo are as advertised – the most important band in the world!
We then head back to the two larger tented stages, firstly for Jim Lockey and the Solemn Sun who preview their upcoming new album ‘Colour’. The record will arrive on July 28th and the band really do a good job of convincing those in attendance that despite the decade plus wait for a new album, the wait will be worth it. All the new material this evening sounds absolutely massive. Then in ‘The Axiom’, The Joy Formidable deliver a delightful little set that evidences the eclectic mix of rock music presented at 2000trees.
Soon enough it’s time for the final run of bands that will close out day one. Skindred are well established as a great live act and tonight they have the crowd at their whim. The Newport Helicopter needs no introduction either as the crowd make the most of the groups big finale.
Back in the big tent next for Eagles of Death Metal who give a festival friendly, crowd pleasing set including the likes of ‘I Only Want You’, ‘Complexity’, ‘Cherry Cola’ and ‘I Want You So Hard (Boy’s Bad News)’.
Finally it’s over to the returning Soft Play (the artists formerly known as Slaves) to close out the day. The duo pick up where they left off and play as if they’ve never been away. It’s great to have the band back and fans revel in the likes of ‘Cheer Up London’, ‘Feed the Mantaray’ and ‘The Hunter’.
Friday begins with an early run of Beauty School, RXPTRS, The St. Pierre Snake Invasion, BLACKGOLD and New Pagans all of whom play their rules well and make the most of their short sets.
After an overcast first couple of days, today is a scorcher and the heat is intense as LostAlone arrive on the stage. The band don’t let that phase them though as they pull out all the stops to get the crowd engaged. It’s mission accomplished by the time they deliver the double header of ‘The Final Call For Forever’ and ‘The Last Drop Of Forever’.
2000trees do very well to bring together the best new music from home and abroad and the next run of Militarie Gun, Zulu, Microwave and Kublai Khan TX shows the keen eye for upcoming talent that the organisers have.
It’s this mix of new with the established acts that perfectly balances out the line-up and Hell Is For Heroes are a great nostalgic party next on the main stage. The quality overall is again on show when you can then head immediately to the ‘NEU Stage’ for an excellently run set from As Everything Unfolds, before returning to the main stage for a very enjoyable Dinosaur Pile-Up show and then jumping straight to the always intense Cancer Bats in ‘The Cave’!
Bullet For My Valentine are the act who close out the night with a huge headline performance. Attracting one of, if not the biggest crowd of the weekend, the band are in confident mood as they showcase their headlining credentials. Older tracks such as ‘Scream Aim Fire’ and ‘Hearts Burst Into Flames’ naturally receive big reactions, but it’s telling newer tracks also are well received.
A surprise AxeWound reunion with Liam Cormier is another festival highlight before ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ and ‘Waking the Demon’ ensure that come the next morning everyone is talking about how great Bullet were tonight!
The festival has been a whirlwind as per usual for 2000trees and it’s a testament to the quality of line-up that to this point there hasn’t been a bad performance. Of course some ultimately standout more than others such as that headline set last night or Bob Vylan destroying the forest but the chilled out atmosphere amongst attendees is reflected by the respect the bands pay the crowd. The reciprocal ambience creates a synergy that elevates every aspect of this event.
SATURDAY
Come Saturday the crowd may be sapped from the previous days heat but over on the ‘Forest Stage’ Xtra Mile Recordings acts (and previous ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast guests) Hannah Rose Platt and Guise are serenading the early crowd with their beautiful music. They are both well received despite the heat being supplemented today by a lot of the wet stuff!
Xtra Mile Recordings has a great relationship and past with 2000trees and new Xtra Mile favourites (and double Full Pelt Podcast guests!) PET NEEDS attract a big crowd to ‘The Axiom’ next. This is no doubt due to some guerrilla advertising from their fans, but everyone that ventures into the tent leave hailing the band as one of the bands of the weekend.
Thank you @2000trees_festival for the most insane midday slot.
Thank you FRACTURED PARTY PEOPLE (official PET NEEDS fan group) for being the best street team in the world.
That concludes three months of touring across 11 countries.
One of the elements that makes the ‘Forest Stage’ so special are the sets from acts playing on the biggest stages which are often acoustic and unique. Next, Electric Six frontman Dick Valentine does a great job of distracting the audience from the deteriorating weather with a highly fun acoustic set.
After catching Dead Poet Society and Enola Gay strutting their stuff we are then able to catch Electric Six themselves who attract another big crowd to the main stage. The crowd lap up the likes of ‘Gay Bar’ and ‘Danger! High Voltage’ as you’d expect, and the band do their job with aplomb.
One Step Closer then cement their hype in ‘The Cave’ before Black Honey demonstrate why they are one of the best newer live acts in the country. Tracks from new album, ‘A Fistful of Peaches’ sound massive as the band achieve another of those more memorable sets of the weekend.
The reshuffled Dream State then show that they still have a big future ahead of them in ‘The Cave’ before Deaf Havana battle through a torrential downpour which decimates their crowd at the main stage. We brave the rain until the end before heading into the forest for a short but very fun set from Lynks.
Talking to people across the site, the opinion is unanimous that this has been a spectacular weekend. You feel as the weekend comes to a close that it can’t get any better, but then Hundred Reasons deliver perhaps the best set of the weekend. The band get the audience onboard from opening number ‘I’ll Find You’ and never lose them despite more heavy rain. One of the moments of the weekend comes when Enter Shikari man Rou Reynolds joins the band for a superb ‘Silver’.
Jamie Lenman then plays his latest masterpiece ‘The Atheist’ in full over in the forest before Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes come out of hibernation to finish the festival with a welcome career-spanning set.
Whilst the band may lack a certain volatility of their early days they don’t lack in swagger or controlled ferocity when required. The final run of ‘My Town’, ‘Devil Inside Me’, ‘Juggernaut’, ‘Lullaby’ and ‘I Hate You’ is the perfect way to bring an incredible weekend of music to a close.
2000trees has established itself at the heart of the summer as a trusted and respected event. From their humble beginnings to now fifteen events later, the festival lays on the infrastructure but the audience makes the event the special weekend that it is!
Over to Oxfordshire next for Truck Festival where Royal Blood again top the bill alongside Two Door Cinema Club, alt-j and Thursday headliner The Wombats.
They’ll be joined by acts such as DMA’s, The Vaccines, Self Esteem, Circa Waves, Pale Waves, Squid, We Are Scientists and more.
To Yorkshire next and Sheffield’s Tramlines returns to Hillsborough Park this July with a huge line-up including headliners Richard Ashcroft, Courteeners and Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott.
Also on the bill are DMA’s, Bloc Party, Blossoms, Kaiser Chiefs, Sea Girls, Circa Waves, The Enemy, Pale Waves, The Zutons, October Drift and Black Honey!
The line-up announcements come thick and fast in our News Report this week with 2000trees also adding a further 50 bands to the line-up including the mighty Skindred!
Deaf Havana, The Bronx, Empire State Bastard, Kid Kapichi, Lynks, The Xcerts and many more also join the like up topped by Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes!
Wollaton Park in Nottingham will once again host Splendour Festival this July. The festival this year will be headlined by Madness and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Also playing will be the likes of The Kooks.
Yes with all these festival announcements in our News Report this week, we are set for some Beautiful Days next summer! Headlining that very event will be Suede, Primal Scream and Levellers.
Also playing will be Johnny Marr, The Proclaimers, Gaz Coombes, Reef, Ferocious Dog, Beans On Toast, The Joy Formidable and many more.
The fantastic Cambridge Folk Festival has also revealed their names this week with The Proclaimers, Rufus Wainwright, Imelda May, Grace Petrie, Kiefer Sutherland, The Longest Johns and Stornoway all set for Cherry Hinton Hall.
Teddy Rocks, which takes place in Dorset and helps to raise money towards research and direct support for children with cancer, set their full line-up this week.
Newly announced acts like Ferocious Dog join a bill featuring Feeder, Jake Bugg, The Amazons, Those Damn Crows, Kid Kapichi, Mason Hill, Dream State and MOSKITO.
The traditional Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall will once again return in 2023 with headline acts Underworld, Wet Leg, Courteeners and Kasabian.
We move our News Report over now to the best tour announcements from the past week. First of all is the above mix of dates from The Who.
The iconic group will be accompanied by an orchestra and support on most dates will come from UB40.
Performing with The Who and an orchestra had been a long-held ambition for singer Roger Daltrey “Having not toured the UK for six years, it’s great that at this time of our careers we have the chance to go to places that are not on the usual touring map Edinburgh Castle and Derby, as well as the other cities across the country that we haven’t been to for decades, will make this very special for me. This opportunity will give our UK Who fans the chance to hear our current show, which, with the addition of an orchestra, takes our music to new heights.”
Pete Townshend “Roger initially christened this tour with an orchestra Moving On! I love it. It is what both of us want to do. Move on, with new music, classic Who music, all performed in new and exciting ways. Taking risks, nothing to lose. I’m really looking forward to bringing this show to the UK.”
Another musical icon, Gary Numan, will be playing three very special shows at the Electric Ballroom in Camden this April.
Revealing the dates, Numan said “In my career I have played, so far, 997 Gary Numan shows. To celebrate reaching the 1,000 milestone I’ll be playing three shows, 998, 999, and 1,000, at the Electric Ballroom in London on April 13th, 14th and 15th. These will obviously be special nights for me, but made all the more so as my daughter Raven will be the support. Raven has finished writing her first album which is currently being recorded with, and produced by, Ade Fenton. For me to be able to celebrate these three momentous shows with the fans who have made it all possible, and for those same nights to be Raven’s first ever three shows playing her new music, is almost more than my tiny heart can stand. I hope to see you there.”
Jamie Lenman had a big news week with details of a Spring Tour accompanied by the news that a new EP, ‘Iknowyouknowiknow’, is set for release on May 5th.
That news has included the debut of new single, ‘Words of Love’, which you can check out below.
Jamie Lenman – ‘Words of Love’
Commenting on the new track, Lenman says: “‘Words Of Love’ is a very old song that I’ve been trying to get on a record since some time between the second and third Reuben albums, but it never fit anywhere until now. Even so, I still had to shave off a few of the post-hardcore edges to make it fit with this project, so if you think you can hear a little mid-noughties vibe in there, that’s why. For a long time this was on rough track listings for the album, but in the end we decided it would be nice to give it a starring role on the EP instead—otherwise it would have been fighting for attention.”
“Thematically it’s about somebody’s reaction to a past infidelity, their inability to get over it or even recognise their own culpability. In that way it’s very much the flip side of ‘Let’s Stop Hanging Out’, where the person is reacting to the same situation in a much more accepting way. In fact, I wrote the middle eight section at the same time I wrote LSHO, when I was in college. So they share some of the same DNA.”
The new single comes with a new video, once again directed and filmed by Lenman live band guitarist and visual collaborator Jen Hingley.
“The video came out of nowhere, because we’d had the tour and then Lenmania and then Christmas to deal with,” explains Lenman of the concept. “Suddenly it was the first week of January and we needed it the next week. I said to Jen on the Sunday night: ‘We’re gonna drive up to Manchester on Tuesday morning and drive back home the same day—we’ll have about six hours in between, so let’s just book a room, fill it full of lights and instruments and see what happens!'”
Pre-orders, tickets and all things Lenman are here.
The final tour announcement in our News Report this week comes from the unstoppable October Drift! As the band continue to celebrate the release of their sophomore album, ‘I Don’t Belong Anywhere’, the group have revealed a fun of dates in April/May.
The band said, “Over the moon to announce our Spring headline UK tour dates and our first ever headline shows in Ireland and Northern Ireland. This is going to be our biggest an best tour yet”.
Hundred Reasons will imminently release their first new album in 15 years as ‘Glorious Sunset’ arrives on February 24th.
This week the band shared the final pre-release single, ‘So So Soon’, which you can check out above.
Frontman Colin Doran who had the following to say about the sentiments behind their latest song:
“My 7-year-old son has Cerebral Palsy and goes to a mainstream school. The school he attended at the time of writing this (he’s at another school now) was pretty bad and hid information, lied, and generally did a terrible job of looking after my son and his needs. They always gave the impression that things were fine but effectively were just making sure they were OK by covering up issues. My son is the light of my life and beyond incredible every single day and I wanted to draw light on how people with disabilities are still treated terribly in society by people who should just be better educated, more understanding, thoughtful, and kind.”
Next up in our News Report is ‘kill[h]er’, the brand new track from Stand Atlantic, and of course you can listen above!
“Self sabotage is a bitch,” states Bonnie Fraser. “Self doubt kills and denying good and genuine parts of yourself because you’ve been conditioned to think they’re not good enough is a form of murder. it’s a reminder to myself not to give in to that shit. personal growth is important but don’t deny who you are. sometimes i find myself thinking back to who i used to be and missing that person.”
Ahead of their upcoming UK Tour, Dub War have shared the video for their track, ‘Celtic Cross’, which you can check out above. Their latest album, ‘Westgate Under Fire’, is out now!
The band comment:
“”Celtic Cross” sends out a message of defiance and hope, and features the amazing drummer Tanner Wayne, who many of you will recognise from the Swedish heavy metal band In Flames. From 1st March, we will be touring England and we’ll be hitting some great intimate venues – come and see what we got to say!”
Continuing the slew of great new releases in our News Report this week is ‘Nightmare’, the latest single from From Ashes To New, which you can check out above.
The track comes from their as-yet-titled fourth album due out this summer.
“Betrayal by someone we trust happens to the best of us,” says Danny Case. “We befriend someone, let them in, build a connection and then all of a sudden they turn into someone unrecognizable. Someone you once trusted and cared for so deeply is now a backstabbing enemy. In a heartbeat, the person you once thought you knew is now gone. There aren’t many things in life that cut quite as deep as betrayal. Erasing that person from your life and moving forward is the only way to wake up from the nightmare.”
Slow Readers Club share new single ‘Lay Your Troubles On Me’
Slow Readers Club – ‘Lay Your Troubles On Me’
There was also new music on offer this week from Slow Readers Club as they shared their latest single, ‘Lay Your Troubles On Me’, which you can check out above.
The band commented, “‘Lay Your Troubles On Me’ was born out of a jamming session in our rehearsal room. We were jamming around the verse idea at rehearsals and then went for a brew break. When we came back we started on another idea but soon realised it was the same notes but with a completely different groove and feel. We didn’t want to lose either version and we loved the idea of the tune getting progressively louder and intense so we combined them. Working on this one in pre-production Joe helped us make the crescendo work well with a cool synth sound.
Lyrically it’s a song about recognising someone going through difficulties, reaching out and offering support. The vocal melody mostly came in the practice room but the high melody ‘hold on for dear life the ones you love’ over the crescendo came in the studio.”
The track features on upcoming album, ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’, which is out February 24th.
Hamish Hawk will release new album, ‘Angel Numbers’ on 24th February and this week saw Hawk share new single ‘Rest & Veneers’ with Samantha Crain.
Hamish had the following to say about the themes behind the song:
“Rest & Veneers is a love song, in the softer, quieter sense of the phrase. It doesn’t deal in high romance, in grand gestures, or the movements of celestial bodies. It’s about the everyday kind of love and affection that shows itself in those small kindnesses, those spared thoughts and graces between friends. It’s new territory for me lyrically, and it takes me to a really good place when I listen to it, plus I’m in awe of Samantha Crain. The song is a relaxed moment on the record, and I’m so pleased its getting its own time to shine.”
Samantha Crain also commented on their collaboration:
“When Hamish sent me this song, I was absolutely floored. This is the kind of song I would have wanted to write. Such a simple subject matter but it really explores the complexity within that seemingly simple emotion. It’s my favorite song I’ve ever gotten to collaborate on a recording of.”
Beans On Toast will be back out on the road very soon, so this week he aptly shared his new single, ‘Back out on the Road’. You can listen to the track above!
Closing out this section of our News Report this week is ‘Be Yourself’, the latest single from Stay Free, which you can listen to above.
The track is described as “an anthem about avoiding the all of the pressure the world and the media put on you to be a certain way and to just follow your own heart and be true to your authentic self.”.
Chappaqua Wrestling have announced their debut album, ‘Plus Ultra’, will be out April 14th and shared new single ‘Wide Asleep’.
The bands says, “Wide Asleep is a complaint to ourselves for being consumed by the echo chamber of social media. Our mobile phones are the portal which lead us to misread and miscommunicate stories and topics, often leaving us more confused than we were in the first place. Wading through muddled points of view, mistargeted ads, senseless airtime of the Royal family, weddings of friends you’d rather forget, addictively numbing reels, leaving us blinded by a little hand-sized screen. It makes us detached and unmoved by anything, all whilst being asleep to the world around us. Hopefully, our preaching will teach us something ourselves as we try to focus on the present.”
Continuing about the album they say: “Plus Ultra documents the journey through our friendship, from school to where we now find ourselves commenting on what is around us. Roughly translating to ‘Nothing Lies Beyond’, a Latin naval term adopted by those exploring uncharted waters, we present a collection of our best works to date, each lyrically distinct but venturing into new territories that life presents; mass media, Tory austerity, mental health, homelessness, the deprived NHS and the release that music gives you from it all. Come with us to make sense of what lies beyond in this world through questions, power and statements that we stand by.”
Gold Fever – ‘DB Cooper’
Gold Fever have shared their second single, ‘DB Cooper’.
Fronman Oscar JD Sault says – “DB Cooper is written from the perspective of someone who believes they’re destined for significance but misuses the present through hedonism. I wanted the track to feel precarious, like a train about to come away from the tracks. As if to mirror how one can wander too far from discipline towards indulgence.”
Bitter Kisses – ‘Pr*y’
Bristol’s Bitter Kisses have shared their debut single, ‘Pr*y’.
Reflecting on the inspiration behind the single the band state, “Pr*y was partially inspired by a fever dream in which Lady Gaga collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age to produce a new Earth Wind And Fire song.
When writing Pr*y we wanted to create a track which could ambiguously explore the difference in meanings of the words ‘prey’ and ‘pray’, and how they each apply to dangerous or unhealthy relationships. One person could worship another, while at the same time being preyed upon by the subject of their love. The meaning of the lyrics can change depending on which version prey/pray you want to hear whenever they’re used in the song.”
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
This week we begin with festival announcements and start off with the incredible first line-up reveal for 2000trees Festival.
Headlining the Saturday night will be Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. They’ll be joined across the weekend by the likes of Hundred Reasons, Rival Schools, The Wonder Years, Bob Vylan, Holding Absence, Cancer Bats, Dream State, No Devotion, Saint Agnes, Press To Meco and many more!
We move our News Report on now to the best tour announcements from the past week and begin with the iconic Duran Duran.
The group have announced a run of UK and Ireland Arena shows for next year.
Simon Le Bon said: “2022 has been an extraordinary year for Duran Duran – mainly down to the incredible fans we have around the world. In July we celebrated our years together at Hyde Park as part of the British Summer Time Festival. Next Spring we will be back on home soil once again to continue the party. It’s remarkable to me that as a band, we are still hitting new milestones, still able to introduce the sound of DD to new generations of music lovers. We are truly grateful that we get to do what we do on a daily basis, and that we still love our job as much as we did when we started out some four decades ago.”
The final tour announcement in our News Report comes from The Sherlocks who will be out on the road later in the year with an October/November tour revealed this week.
We turn our attention now to the best new releases from the past week in our News Report. Just the one to highlight this week with the new single, ‘On The Up’ from Sean McGowan.
Listen to the track above, and head here for more.
Scotland’s Dancing On Tables have released their debut album, ‘Colour In The Grey’, including the single, ‘So What’!
The band says, “It feels like the last 3 years of our life have all been building up to this album. You can hear the journey that we’ve been on as a group as you go through the tracks, with stories of love, happiness, loss and frustration sang on top of a sound that we have worked hard to define by combining our original rock influences with our favourite modern music alt-pop styles.
The album is a collection of songs that were put together over a time where as musicians, we were suddenly stuck at home after being used to being on the road for most of the year. Like most people, it was tough for us to stay motivated during this, but working together (remotely) on music was the highlight of each day and left us with over 70 tracks to choose from for this album.
For us, writing and recording this album really was the ‘colour in the grey’ of every day life at this point.”
Humour – ‘Jeans’
Fellow Scots Humour have released, ‘Jeans’, the final single from their EP, ‘Pure Misery’.
The band had the following to say about the single:
“Jeans is about a character who is internally trying to build himself up and convince himself that he’s a successful and confident no-nonsense man. But he periodically has lapses in this forced self-assuredness and realises that he is not any of those things and is in fact quite a sad, pathetic and laughable character. Much like myself.”
Jamie Beale – ‘Champagne People’
Jamie Beale has released debut album, ‘Hello Nimbus’ featuring the single ‘Champagne People’.
Speaking about the inspiration for the single, Jamie says: “ I feel that we are living in this weird age where people are willing to do anything for fame. You see it all the time on social media – it’s so easy to put up a veil and hide all the realities and imperfections of life that ultimately make us human. Quite often, in these industries that promote the idea of fame as success, people surround themselves with an entourage of fake people; people that are only really there to further their own careers. On the outside looking in, it seems that no-one in these circles are truly content, but instead are lonely and looking to fill that void with possessions or short lived moments of attention and gratification.
“I guess I can’t help but feel for these people, so I wrote a song about someone who’s trying to climb the social ladder, and ends up alone, hiding behind a pretty picture of how they want their life to look.”
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week with a handful of festival announcements and they didn’t come bigger than the initial line-up reveal for the 2023 edition of the legendary Isle of Wight Festival!
Always eclectic, this year’s bill is full of diverse options for attendees to check out including headliners Pulp, George Ezra, The Chemical Brothers and Robbie Williams.
Also on the bill are Courteeners, Blondie, James Bay, The Human League, Manic Street Preachers, The Enemy and more.
Following a multi-year hiatus, Takedown Festival will return in 2023, and this week organisers revealed the stunning first batch of bands that will be taking over Portsmouth Guildhall in April.
Headlining the event will be Sleep Token and Skindred. They will be joined by the likes of Loathe, Jamie Lenman, InMe, Palm Reader, Our Hollow Our Home, As December Falls, Fearless Vampire Killers, The Bottom Line and more!
Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes will be releasing his latest solo album, ‘Turn The Car Around’ on January 13th. Ahead of that release, Coombes has this week revealed a full UK/Ireland Tour set for April.
We move our News Report on now finally to the best new releases from the past week and we start with Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes!
This week saw the band share new single, ‘Parasite’, which you can listen to above.
Of the song they share: “This song was written between 12am and 3am during a particularly brutal trip to the seaside, it rained for a week straight and I had spent all my time listening to friends and their relationship problems but I had no words, no solutions to find. After all that a new parasite had been discovered.”
The band also detailed a 3 date residency at the Underworld in Camden this December.
At the end of their special Roundhouse show on Friday, Creeper announced the debut of their new single, ‘Ghost Brigade’, which you can listen to above now!
Black Star Riders this week released unique new single, ‘Crazy Horses’, which is a reinterpretation of The Osmonds classic. Listen to the track above!
The Track comes from upcoming new album, ‘Wrong Side Of Paradise’, which is out January 20th.
Front-man Ricky Warwick comments: “I remember watching The Osmonds performing this song on television in the early seventies as a young kid. I fell in love with it then and was patiently waiting for the opportunity to cover it. Thankfully my brothers in BSR shared the same adoration for the tune. So… The time is now and here it is!”
AWOLNATION returned this week with brand new single, ‘We Are All Insane’, which you can listen to above.
Frontman Aaron Bruno on the inspiration behind ‘We Are All Insane’, “I wrote the song during a time when the days of the week felt especially monotonous and I was searching for ways to stay creative and productive. I think that’s a feeling most people have experienced at some point in their lives, especially over the past few years.”
This week saw IDLES announce the upcoming release of ‘Five Years of Brutalism’, a newly released vinyl celebrating five years since the release of their seminal debut album.
Speaking about the album, singer Joe Talbot writes; “What started as a headstone slab of indulgence and unrest became a long journey of beauty, forgiveness, and gratitude. Little did we know that it was not just a headstone but the foundations we were building, for a house full to the brim with loving human beings. Thank you so so much”
You can check out a taster of the release with ‘1049 GOTHO’ live from Glastonbury which you can listen to above.
Just Mustard this week shared the new video for their track, ‘Blue Chalk’, which you can watch above.
The video was made with the group’s friend Seán McMahon and was directed by vocalist, Katie Ball. “The song Blue Chalk defines the heaviness that the whole of ‘Heart Under’ exists beneath. The kind that comes with grief and you feel like you are trying to navigate life with the weight of the sea on your chest keeping you down. I wanted to make this video since we started writing ‘Heart Under’ and to me it visually represents a lot of the emotion in the album. It was filmed in 4hrs in freezing cold water with the help of our friend Seán McMahon.” says Ball.
DEADLETTER share new single, ‘Madge’s Declaration’, taken from debut EP, ‘Heat!’, which is out November 18th.
Frontman Zac Lawrence said the following on the track: “We wanted to make something that had elements of humour and danceability, trying to explore a genuinely terrifying idea in a manner which mirrors our cultural fascination with it. Our tendency to work around the drumbeat and bassline is highly evident here, with the song climaxing in a cacophony of primal ecstasy.”
Hell’s Ditch – ‘Take The Night Off’
British punk rock group Hell’s Ditch are back with their brand-new single ‘Take The Night Off’.
“We’re made to feel lucky that we have a job and that we should be grateful for the opportunity to fight over scraps from the tables of the political class.People deserve more than just the bare minimum – we deserve dignity and good quality of life. Take The Night Off is about the need to live a life beyond the daily grind. Bread and roses, if you will”. – Vocalist Nick Davis
Xondra – ‘Tedious’
New York-based singer and songwriter Xondra unveils ‘Tedious’, the final single from her much anticipated EP, ‘Tedious & Brief’.
“It is a song for the people that love so much and so hard that they sometimes forget to save some for themselves; it is for those learning to step out of survival mode and really live in the present,” says Xondra. “’Tedious’ is me putting myself first. It is me allowing myself to to walk through the hard feelings I was having and still be hopeful that good times were coming down the road for me.”
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
Where else could we start this week other than the sensational return of Paramore to the UK?
The newly regrouped band will be heading this way next April for an arena tour taking in Glasgow, London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Dublin, Ireland.
Support will come from Bloc Party!
Paramore will release their new album, ‘This Is Why’ on February 10th.
Def Leppard & Motley Crue bring Stadium Tour to the UK
Following a hugely successful joint jaunt across America, both Def Leppard and Motley Crue have announced that they are taking their tour across the world.
In the UK that equates to a Stadium/Festival tour in May and July next year including a hometown show in Sheffield and a date at Wembley Stadium.
“After finally getting back on the road and having a monumental summer tour in the US & Canada this year, we’re beyond thrilled to be bringing this massive stadium tour to major cities all over the world, and kicking off Europe in Sheffield where it all started for us 45 years ago. We’re looking to forward to seeing you out there, somewhere soon!” said Joe Elliott of Def Leppard.
“We had an incredible time playing The Stadium Tour in North America this summer and we truly can’t wait to take the show around the globe with The WORLD Tour in 2023. Crüeheads in Latin America and Europe: Get ready! We’re coming for you next and can’t wait to finally see all of you out there again next year!” Mötley Crüe said in a joint statement.
DMA’s also announced a new UK tour this week with the band on the road next April where they will finish up at Brixton Academy.
The band have also revealed that their fourth album, ‘How Many Dreams?’, will be out March 31st. You can check out new single, ‘Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s The Weekend’ below.
DMA’s – ‘Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s The Weekend’
Guitarist Jonny Took comments: “‘Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s The Weekend’, we’ve all thought it, we’ve all felt it. This song is about letting go of the things that weigh us down and embracing the future with a sense of optimism. Stepping in the ‘Right light in the dark times’.”
Another band revealing a UK tour for 2023 this past week was Those Damn Crows. Fresh from touring with Monster Truck, the Welsh rockers will play a run of shows next February including a huge show at Swansea Arena.
The band will be releasing their new album, ‘Inhale/Exhale’, on February 17th.
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes debut ‘The Drugs’ feat. Jamie T
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – ‘The Drugs’ feat. Jamie T
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes also had new music to share this week as they teamed up with Jamie T. You can check out the T featuring single, ‘The Drugs’, above.
Commenting on the collaboration, Carter says; “Jamie and I had been talking about making music for years and when he asked me to sing on his tune ‘British Hell’, I jumped at the chance.
When I asked him to sing on ‘The Drugs’ he returned the favour in perfect style, and we filmed a video at Rose of Mercy.”
Norway’s Sløtface this week shared new single, ‘HAPPY’, which you can check out above. They also revealed that a new EP is on the way in February next year.
Shea had the following to say about the new single and EP release:
“For this upcoming EP the main themes I’ve been exploring are really joy, happiness and all of the opposites of these feelings – what it means to feel happy or content. “Happy” is one of the first songs we finished writing together with the new band who perform the Sløtface songs live and also contribute on most of the recorded music. Tobias, our guitarist, came up with the riff, and he, Nils, Marie, Simen and I just jammed around that in the rehearsal space, which was a positive change after working in a studio setting for a lot of the other new Sløtface songs.
Lyrically, the song is very direct, simple and honest. I was working on how to write about the themes of the EP and thought I’d try saying it as simply as I could. I truly do just want to feel happy. And after a few years of soul searching as to what that could mean, this felt like the most direct way to express those feelings.”
Showcasing the end of an era, Mimi Barks has shared her sinister new ear shattering single ‘ABYSS‘. The single will feature on her recently announced mixtape ‘DEADGIRL’ which is set for release in December 2022.
“‘From hatred for myself and the world, narcissistic & delusional aloofness and chaos in my brain, to self-growth through spirituality. From self-hailing to self-healing; this is the final dance for letting go of the past.
It’s the rebirth of a broken child, a DEADGIRL. Now reborn as a leader, as her own god; indestructible and inviolable.This is revenge.” – Mimi Barks
Void of Vision – ‘HELL HELL HELL’
Melbourne’s Void Of Vision unforgettably spiral headfirst into the the abyss with a brand new single ‘HELL HELL HELL ‘
“HELL HELL HELL is a brand new world of Void Of Vision that has definitely been hinted at or given a nod in previous work,” shares Void Of Vision vocalist Jack Bergin, “But this is where we truly get to showcase our own raw and explicit take on it. It’s been so insanely fulfilling to create, feeling so foreign yet strangely just as much at home within our discography alongside all our other works“.
“To let this creativity flow so effortlessly and be able to share this with the confidence we would alongside any other piece of work we share is truly a full circle moment for us,” Bergin continues. “Feeling as if we’ve been working to bury old material and leave it in the past and adding a whole new style for us into the mix at this stage has been almost therapeutic, challenging ourselves and pushing each other to new levels is now the norm for Void Of Vision and exactly where you’ll find the best material from Void Of Vision“.
SAFIRE – ‘OUT FOR BLOOD’
‘OUT FOR BLOOD’ is new solo artist SAFIRE‘s debut single and epitomises the singer’s rage and desire to shift gender dynamics.
On the sound that SAFIRE has honed, she tells us: “You can always expect me to be energetic and singing/screaming about something I feel passionately about. I’m all about female empowerment and my tracks are coming from that place. They are as much a reminder to me as they are a message to my audience! I want my audience to feel uplifted, empowered and strong and I write music in that frame of mind most of the time.”
Welcome one and all to another edition of our weekly music News Report, where we roundup the best news from the past week. We start off this week with the best tour announcements.
Up first are Shinedown who have announced a UK Tour for later this year which will include a date at Wembley Arena. Support comes from Asking Alexandria and Zero 9:36.
Frontman Brent Smith states, “We have always been inspired by the UK and European audiences. Their passion for music is extraordinary. We are beyond excited to be returning as headliners, with our biggest show yet!”
“We are overwhelmed by the love and support of our new album, ‘Planet Zero’ and look forward to sharing our new songs, along with all of your Shinedown favorites!!! Cheers!!!”
Music Venue Trust reveal new wave of #ReviveLive shows
As the music industry continues to strive for a return to pre-pandemic levels of attendance, the incredible Music Venue Trust has announced another wave of #ReviveLive shows.
With support from The National Lottery attendees can bring a friend for free to a plethora of newly revealed shows.
Acts taking part this go around include Everything Everything, Paolo Nutini, The Amazons, The Coral, Baby Dave, Coach Party, Sick Joy, The Goa Express and Thumper!
Inglorious will also be touring later this year with a lengthy trek planned in across the UK. Support comes from A New Tomorrow.
Frontman, Nathan James, comments “I am so excited to get back out on tour with the guys . Over the pandemic we were not able to tour as much as we usually would, but we were able to release albums. So we did! We recorded the We Will Ride album, The Heroine all female covers album and the 1st ever Inglorious live album and dvd. It’s amazing now to be able to pick songs from all of those albums to make the ultimate inglorious set.
On this tour we will be bringing something totally different set wise and we’re really looking forward to playing songs from across all of our albums. Inglorious has always been a strong live act and now more so than ever. Tighter, harder and more determined to show people what we are about.
We hope to see everyone on the “Until We Die 2022 UK Tour” and cannot wait make some noise for you all again.”
Burn It Down Festival takes over Torquay again this September and the event has confirmed their stacked line-up for this year.
Headliners Trash Boat and Deaf Havana will be joined by the likes of Static Dress, Our Hollow Our Home, Haggard Cat, Cassyette, VUKOVI, Tigercub, Salem, As December Falls, Death Blooms, Pupil Slicer and more.
We move our News Report on now to the latest new releases, and we start with Deaf Havana.
As the band gear up to release their sixth studio album, ‘The Present Is A Foreign Land’, on 15th July they have debuted new track, ‘Nevermind’, which you can check out above.
LIFE continue to gear up for the release of ‘North East Coastal Town’ on August 19th. You can listen to their new single, ‘The Drug’, above.
Speaking on the new single vocalist Mez Green says: “The Drug is a love song. I wrote the lyrics in the cold mountains of Italy before taking them into the room with the band. ‘The Drug’ I needed has always been here, the drug I needed has always been near” is, for me, realising that loved ones and those that love you, no matter where you are, can always be present.
I’d never really believed this before and whilst this purity is at the lyrical heart of the song musically the band decided to inject flecks of dance, pop, harmonics, and dirty pulses to give the song drive, repetition and jerk-ability.”
Norway’s Sløtface return with the news that the group’s figurehead Haley Shea will now be leading the band, with Lasse and Tor-Arne leaving to focus on new passions outside the group.
To signal this era beginning they have released a double a-side of ‘Beta’, and ‘Come Hell Or Whatever’. You Can listen to ‘Beta’ above.
“”Beta” was the very first song Mikhael and I worked on together in his studio. It should be listened to while wearing sunglasses, even on cloudy days!
The song is about wanting to connect with people on a deeper level, but feeling like social media sometimes gets in the way, with things becoming somewhat intimidating, shallow and superficial. The song is a confidence booster for myself where I’m trying to be cooler than I am. It was written at a time when I really, really missed the rush of playing live, and I needed to find some of that spark and edge in myself that only really comes out on stage.”
Finally, this week Twister shared their latest single, ‘Own Worst Enemy’, which you can listen to above.
Singer and guitarist Stevie Stoker comments: “Twister are evolving and progressing with every release and the momentum we’re building on the road is really driving us to bigger and better things in the studio. It’s such an exciting time.”
Indie rock band Sunsleeper have shared their newest track, ‘Blemishes’.
“’Blemishes’ is about the slow unraveling of a deeply important friendship, as well as the acceptance of the relationship’s end,” shares vocalist Jeffery Mudgett. “The freedom in letting go of a toxic relationship is underrated. Sometimes there’s no need to mourn the end, but rather we should celebrate leaving that toxicity behind.”
cheerbleederz – ‘notes app apologies’
London indie punk trio cheerbleederz reveal their latest single ‘notes app apologies’.
Commenting on the track and video, the band say: “This song is about letting go of an abusive relationship. There’s a lot of fear and doubt that comes with separating yourself from somebody who manipulates you, and it leaves behind feelings of anger, as well as guilt and doubt.
You end up questioning everything while simultaneously harbouring a lot of resentment for the person who treated you that way. We wanted this song to feel cathartic and unapologetic—it ultimately feels very healing.”
MODES – ‘Infamous’
Kent’s MODES deliver their new single, ‘Infamous’.
MODES frontman Ted Berry reveals that the new single“Infamous is a song we wrote to reflect on anger and past trauma that we have experienced. We wanted to put this into words to help others feel understood and seen. It’s only human to have been in situations that lead to feeling hurt, angry, and even disappointed in how you have been treated by others.”
With the pandemic taking a hold back in early 2020, Download Festival became one of the first major festival victims. It was perhaps fitting therefore that the small Pilot version of the event was the first step on the road back to normality last year.
That does mean though that as we head into Donington Park in 2022, it is the first fully fledged festival since the 2019 edition. After three long years, it is finally time for rock and metal fans to convene again on these hallowed grounds.
There are a number of changes this year to the layout of the festival but the best change is the installation of a strange golden orb in the sky. The usual brown flooring has also been painted green. Yes, goodbye Drownload and hello sunburn!
The main changes to the festival relate to the layout of the campsites, parking and transport hubs. Given these new changes, a little extra signage may have assisted seasoned attendees finding their way around, but in general the changes work well. There is a lot of walking required, however there always is at Donington Park however the event is laid out.
Once inside the area the setup is pretty standard if a little cut back with smaller stages, fewer food stalls and no wrestling or other extra areas. But, it’s Download and everyone is just glad to be here.
So then, on to the music! Opening the main stage on Friday are NWOCR favourites Wayward Sons who make the most of their short time on stage. They are quickly followed by Canadians Theory (of a Deadman) who also only have a short time to show their stuff. Thankfully for them they are able to call upon some festival-perfect material as the crowd sing along to ‘Bitch Came Back’, ‘Hate My Life’ and ‘Bad Girlfriend’.
Recently rejigged Bury Tomorrow follow on the main stage and bring the first real taste of heavy to the festival. The band are clearly honoured by the opportunity and try their best to win over the audience, with our first pyro of the weekend helping to add to the occasion. By the time the band leave the stage and a pile of bodies in the audience, the set has to be considered a success.
We go walkabout next and visit first the second stage for a man who has already played Download Festival with both Alter Bridge and Slash, Myles Kennedy. With two solo albums now to his name, Kennedy only grows his legacy with another top class performance.
Secondly we head to the Avalanche Stage for something new. American pop-punk band Meet Me @ the Altar have intensifying hype around them, and keeping with the tone of the day they are able to grasp this opportunity with both hands. Expect bigger things from the band in the near future.
As day one begins to draw to a close with catch two of Download’s house bands with Skindred on the main stage and Airbourne over on the second stage. Both bands attract big crowds, because fans know what to expect from them. High energy, entertaining rock shows are delivered by both as fans get to revel in what they have missed over the last three years.
Having delivered an incredible headlining performance at the Pilot event last summer, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes return to Donington Park next to headline the second stage. Carter and co show the crowd what they missed last year with another stunning performance. This band must be considered one of the best live bands on the planet and who would put it past them headlining the main stage in the future.
Download Festival after all needs to begin focusing on that next generation of headline acts, because many of the old guard are saying farewell. It is the ‘End of the Road’ for KISS, but not before one final triumphant showcase this year.
The band are able to deliver all the pageantry of a KISS show with every party trick played with precision. As the fans walk away with ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ stuck in their heads, the band have brought the party and night one is closed out in style.
SATURDAY REVIEW
Day 2 at Donington Park in full swing now with @theravenage tearing up the main stage!
Saturday morning brings a fresh day with the sun still shining bright, but early risers at the main stage are left waiting with opening act The Raven Age almost forty minutes late. When the band do arrive they are able to show their continued growth with a matured performance.
This delay subsequently leads to a 30+ minute lag on main stage times throughout the rest of the day which plays havoc with fans carefully curated schedules. It does mean however that we can head to the second stage and catch the energetic Cassyette who is capitalising on the momentum earned over the last year.
It’s then back to the main stage for the classic rock sounds of Those Damn Crows and Monster Truck. Both bands continue the impressive start to the festival. Clearly every act is out to cast off the shackles of recent years and make an impression.
Both of these bands leave the fans wanting more, which is all a band can do with these early festival slots. It’s probably a good thing then, that these two bands will be touring the UK together later this year!
Up next for us is one of the performances of the weekend from Holding Absence over on the Avalanche stage. With songs like ‘Afterlife’ and ‘Wilt’ seemingly made for festival crowds to sing along to, the band completely own the packed tent during their time on stage.
Shinedown are also a band that knows how to control a crowd, and they have a large crowd to play with next on the main stage. With a new album on the way, the band incorporate new tracks ‘The Saints of Violence and Innuendo’ and ‘Planet Zero’ into their tried and tested, crowd pleasing set.
It’s then back to the Avalanche stage for another standout performance. This time it’s Creeper on the stage, the band again showing an innate ability to hold the audience in the palm of their hands. Creeper continue to grow and evolve and it will be interesting to see where the band head next.
We stick next to the Avalanche stage for headliners Funeral For A Friend. Perhaps it’s the fact that we’ve just witnessed two fantastic performances on this stage from Holding Absence and Creeper but something feels a little off for this set. It’s not a lacklustre performance as the band give it their all, but on a weekend full of great performances what is probably a really good one feels a little underwhelming.
There is never anything underwhelming however about Iron Maiden. The band are icons for a reason and their current stage show is possibly their best ever. With Maiden on form and a packed Donington Park in fine voice, this headline set was always going to be one for the ages, and it doesn’t disappoint.
Now onto Sunday morning, with hangovers taking hold, feet aching and stamina’s waning. It’s up to Wargasm to blow away any cobwebs as they open the main stage, and that’s just what they do. The band are developing into something of a marmite band, but there is no doubting the passion and energy that they put into every performance; and judging by the reaction they go down very well this morning.
Sidetracking from the music for a moment, we commented in our Neck of the Woods Festival review about the cost of food and drink this year. There are no surprises therefore that prices are high at Download Festival, but the quality on offer at that price is disappointing. Inflation is one thing, but shrinkflation begins to rub, and more than one meal this weekend leaves a sour taste in our mouth (figuratively and literally in one case!).
Well, if the amenities on offer are disappointing, thankfully the music isn’t. As we have said, the quality of performances this weekend is consistently high. Both The Velveteers in the Dogtooth tent and The Last Internationale on the second stage are fine examples of this quality from top to bottom.
Massive Wagons follow on the second stage and again appear on top form. As many bands have this weekend, they tailor their set list perfectly for their time on stage and it’s wall to wall bangers as the kids would say.
Tremonti next are more methodical as they display their technical prowess. Mark Tremonti and co are mightily impressive and the audience are equally receptive.
We shoot then across to the main stage where Rise Against are another band that fail to meet expectations. The band are an incredible force, but sadly today they struggle to translate from the stage for whatever reason.
Volbeat have no problems though as they are instantly able to grab the audience. They deliver a career spanning setlist to the delight of the field, which shows just why they have established themselves as potential future headliners.
We then find time to dart across to the Avalanche stage one last time as Trash Boat showcase one of the albums of last year, ‘Don’t You Feel Amazing?’. Trash Boat have really come into their own and have the entire tent bouncing along.
Korn are the penultimate band to play the main stage this weekend and they make the most of their position with one of the best performances of the festival. The band are longtime Download Festival favourites and they evidence today just why that is.
There is another look at the future next as Yonaka pack out the Dogtooth tent. Those that have made the effort to catch the band are rewarded by an incredible performance from one of the most exciting young rock bands around.
Last but certainly not least with have Biffy Clyro who are one of the biggest rock bands in the UK, but seemingly another marmite band amongst regular Download Festival goers.
One thing for certain is that those that chose to the stay until the end are rewarded by way of a sublime headlining performance. Biffy Clyro are another level live act and tonight they deliver a superb closing show fitting of closing this event.
Consistent high calibre performances have encapsulated the return of Download Festival this weekend. The event has a special place in the hearts of its fan base and will celebrate next year with a special four day 20th anniversary celebration. We can’t wait!
Welcome all to another edition of our weekly music News Report! We start this week with a handful of festival announcements and leading the way is the above line-up from Download Festival.
The Donington event got a little bigger this week with the addition of Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Napalm Death, Kris Barras Band, Pengshui and more joining.
The event will be headlined by Kiss, Iron Maiden & Biffy Clyro.
We move on now to the weeks new music releases as our News Report continues at pace.
Alongside the release of their new album, ‘Skinty Fia’, Fontaines D.C. this week shared their latest single, ‘Roman Holiday’. You can listen to the new track above.
Speaking on the single, frontman Grian Chatten says, “Roman Holiday makes me think of the wide streets of north London in the Summer and the urge to discover them at night time. The thrill of being a gang of Irish people in London with a bit of a secret language and my first flat with my girlfriend.”
The band has also added additional dates to their upcoming UK Tour!
There was also new music coming from the Boston Manor camp this past week as the band debuted new single ‘Foxglove’. You can listen to the track above.
Folk favourite Beans On Toast this week debuted his latest track, ‘Swimming In It’. The track is described as “A protest song about the heinous environmental crimes committed by Southern Water”. You can listen to the song above.
This week saw The Blinders release the video for their recent single, ‘Fight For It’. You can watch the video above.
Regarding the song vocalist and guitarist Thomas Hayward says, “It’s about waking up and seizing the day with both your hands firmly gripped round its neck, to the point where you know you’re a better person by the end of it.
“I had a lot to say about the matter, so subconsciously probably chose the song we’d worked on the least, in terms of seeing how far we could push it musically and made up for it lyrically.
“Usually, as a band, we’d rarely let a song exist in such a basic form… but upon writing the lyrics the tone was right. The words came very fast. When all was said and done it was probably over in about half an hour.
“It’s the lightest song we’ve done. Not something you’d usually expect from the band, and not necessarily a place where I’m particularly comfortable drawing from. Give me brick and barbed wire over sunshine any day. I’ve got a soft spot for it though.”
The last new release in our News Report this week comes from LIFE who have debuted their newest track, ‘Almost Home’. The track will feature on upcoming third album, ‘North East Coastal Town’.
Speaking on the new single vocalist Mez Green says: “Almost Home barks, jolts, jerks and spits with the theme of pining to be home and thus chimes with North East Coastal Town’s over-riding sense of belonging. ‘Taste the difference…feel significant…hold a lifeline, you’re almost home!” Almost Home is a song that wrestles with ego and love, with love winning; ”Recipe, I ain’t a cult recipe.”
As always we finish our News Report with the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist! Featured this week are:
‘Night’ – Oakman
France based pop/rock trio, Oakman debut their brand new single, ‘Night’.
“This song was written in one day,” says the band. “Marine had just learned that she might have a serious health problem. Without knowing it, Geremia sent an idea for a riff to Marine that day, who was instantly inspired by the mood. It matched so well with what she was feeling at the time that the whole song was written in one go. She was in a very special mental state that day. It was a kind of happy-sad nostalgia of life. Between the reality of losing everything and the people that you love and the strong desire to just live and exist. We spend our time complaining but when life can suddenly stop, that’s when we realise how much the smallest thing is worth. This song was like a mourning, a last night before everything stops forever. It’s the first time we wrote such a personal song and it’s one of our favourite tracks. It allowed Marine to not sink that day.”
‘Halo’ – Blue Violet
‘Halo’ will feature on the upcoming album, ‘Late Night Calls’ from husband/wife duo Blue Violet.
Ahead of the forthcoming release of ‘Late Night Calls’ Sam and Sarah Gotley explain:
“All in all, the thing we enjoyed most while recording the album was the opportunity to be experimental with sound on top of the structures we had already put in place during the writing and pre-prod processes. We got very lucky to find a like-minded team of people to work with and a beautiful location to match. Coming off the back of a good couple of years in our previous band Broken Bones Matilda, we had no idea that our goals and choice of music we wanted to make would change, but it feels like this album is the start of something long and fruitful and that we’ve found out who we are and what we want to say.”
‘The Concrete of Moulded Men’ – Eat Your Own Head’
Norwich alt-rock newcomers Eat Your Own Head feature with new track ‘The Concrete of Moulded Men’.
Commenting on the track, vocalist Ash Woolnough said: “‘The Concrete of Moulded Men’ is a sledgehammer to the slab of toxic masculinity. When writing the track, we wanted it to be fierce, hard, and unrelenting to reflect the kind of feelings and pressures that are put on men.”
“I didn’t have any friends that played music when I was growing up, and It would feel embarrassing to say no to football or something like that because I wanted to play guitar and sing. I started making up reasons and hiding it, which was obviously not the right thing to be doing. This track is basically saying don’t worry about all that nonsense”
