While most of the country have their eyes on the happenings at Worthy Farm, a few thousand dedicated rock fans brave the heat to pack into the legendary Hammersmith âEventimâ Apollo.
The reason is that US rockers Incubus are in town. The band arenât the most regular of visitors to these shores and when they do come over itâs very rare to find then outside the usual handful of major cities.
There is enough draw then for fans to find their way to this part of London and there is also relief for those fans too after a spate of recent cancellations from the band due to ill-health. Tonight though is set and once the crowd are mesmerised by the unique opening act Lealani, itâs time for a blast from the past.
With no new album since 2017 and only two albums on offer since 2006, the set was always going to be a familiar delivery of fan favourites. Thatâs not always a bad thing and tonight the crowd delight at the selection available.
The energy never really dips over the ninety minutes or so that the band grace the stage and the audience feed off the connection that develops with the group. Even a cover of âCome Togetherâ goes down well as the audience savour classics such as âAre You In?â, âPardon Meâ, âDigâ and âWish You Were Hereâ.
An encore of âDriveâ is more than enough to send the crowd back away again happy. Recent issues overcome, tonight Incubus remind everyone of their power⊠now perhaps a new album next?
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
This week we begin with the best new releases of the past week and up first are Linkin Park.
The iconic group are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of their seminal album, ‘Meteora’. As part of these celebrations the band have now shared another unreleased track from that era. You can listen to that track, ‘Fighting Myself’, above!
Skindred returned this week with, ‘Set Fazers’, the second single from their upcoming new album, ‘Smile’, which is out August 4th. You can check out the video for the single above.
Lead singer Benji Webbe states, âStar date 22.3.23: With this song weâre boldly going where no ragga-metal has gone before. We come in peace, L.O.V.E and unity, to bring Skindredâs outergalactic sound-system to the infinite expanse of the cosmos.â
Skindred drummer Arya Goggin continues, âThe idea with the âSet Fazersâ video was to make a Sci Fi meets Dancehall epic! Through TikTok we met an amazing dancer called Shin (whose dance to our song âNobodyâ went viral earlier this year) and heâs added his unique style to the video too. We had so much fun filming it and canât wait to share it with everyone.â
Empire State Bastard, the new project from Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil and his long-time colleague Mike Vennart of Oceansize, have shared their debut single ‘Harvest’, which you can check out above.
The track features the legendary drummer Dave Lombardo and represents the first taste of what the project will offer with the band simply exclaiming “Empires fall, States rise, Bastards singâŠitâs Harvest time motherfuckers!”.
British heavy metal legends Saxon have released their second album of influences, ‘More Inspirations’, this week. Alongside the album came a new single, ‘Razamanaz’, which you can check out above.
Frontman Biff Byford comments âIn the seventies weâd go and see Nazareth they were one of the premier touring hard rock bands. We were lucky to tour with them in 1980, they used to open the show with this song, itâs about the audience performed to an audience⊠brilliant stuff!â
There was more new music on offer this week from The Pearl Harts also as the duo shared their new single, ‘Hypocritical’, which you can of course check out above!
The track is the third single to come from their upcoming album, ‘LOVE, CHAOS’, which arrives on April 21st!
Supergroup Generation Sex have added new shows to their summer schedule including a special one-off show at The Civic at the Halls in Wolverhampton this July.
Billy Bragg will once again be out on the road later this year for ‘The Roaring Forty Tour’.
A new collection of songs with the same name is also on it’s way with a release date of October 27th.
“Doesnât seem like just that long ago that I was playing Thursday nights at the Tunnel in Greenwich, opening for whoever was headlining. I learned my chops there in late 82/early83 and Iâm still putting those lessons to good use 40 years later. Hope to see some of you this autumn.” – Billy Bragg
The Darkness reveal first wave of ‘Permission to Land’ shows
The final tour announcement in our News Report this week comes from The Darkness who will be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of seminal album ‘Permission To Land’ with a load of tour dates!
Initial dates take the band across Europe with further world and UK dates on the way.
Frontman Justin Hawkins comments, âWhen Permission to Land landed, twenty short years ago, we were bathed in shock and awe. As if by magic, Rock wasnât dead! Fun wasnât banned! And Spandex was almost acceptable againâŠ
âWell, guess what? Twenty years on, the same rules apply. So please to squeeze yourselves into those inappropriate leggings, back-comb your mullet, splash on a big handful of attitude, and come celebrate with us! We promise everything and we deliver, every time. Bring on the next twenty!
As our News Report turns to festival announcements we head over to Neighbourhood Weekender who this week revealed the final wave of line-up additions for May.
New names include The View, Kula Shaker, Gaz Coombes and more. They join the likes of Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, The Kooks, Pulp, The Wombats, Self Esteem, Ocean Colour Scene, The Enemy and Lottery Winners.
Closing out our festival announcements in our News Report is the latest line-up additions from Bearded Theory.
This week saw the event reveal that Skindred, Kid Kapichi, Brix Smith, Loose Articles and more will join the line-up topped by Interpol, Primal Scream and Pretenders.
Brighton noise rock trio Staff Party reveal their new single. âDreadâ, which is the title-track of their upcoming EP.
Commenting on the new single and themes on the EP, frontman Ed Lamb says:Â âI have triedâbut am completely unable toâwrite happy songs. When I want to write about something, typically I take a look around and something which pisses me off, confuses me, or scares me, is usually what inspires me the most. It’s hard not to draw on the awful state and chaos the world is in at the moment, as well. Just browsing the Internet can be a rich and endless source of horror.â
âI also consider myself a fairly introspective, and potentially sentimental person, so much of what I write about is based on aspects of my own psyche and personality. It feels cathartic to articulate those thoughts in the form of loud, aggressive music. I enjoy the fact that âDreadâ, with probably the most upbeat and bouncy sounding instrumental, still has these introspective dark lyrics to juxtapose it. I couldn’t even let the fun catchy song be nice.â
headcage – ‘nothing’
Newcastle Upon Tyne Alternative Post-Hardcore band headcage share their brand new single ânothingâ.
âLyrically the song details the struggle to overcome the feeling of uselessness and the everyday battles that come alongside living with ADHD and Anxiety. I wanted to state in laymanâs terms the difficulty that I face to remain persistent or disciplined in many aspects of my life. The song itself acts as catharsis, a real and true personal expression of the negative aspects of these conditions that I have to face everydayâ. – Vocalist – Leyum Pattinson
Civil Villains – ‘Mortuary Blue’
Brit alt-rockers Civil Villains have released their brand new single, ‘Mortuary Blue’, taken from upcoming album, ‘Motion Sick’.
The band remark about the record: âLike the nauseating sensory mismatch experienced from the passenger seat, âMotion Sickâ is largely about contradictory states and lost control. Born as a series of voice notes, written over webcam, developed via shared Logic Pro projects, and honed in snatched moments of lifted lockdowns, the album was recorded in the rolling countryside expanses of Oxfordshire.â