BRAD, New Killer Shoes @Birmingham Academy 2 9/2/13

The queues around The Academy full of excitable youngsters, many of whom you suspect are at their first ever gig, and many of whom are with their parents, are not – you will no doubt be amazed to learn – for Brad. Instead they are for some pop sensation called Rita Ora, who has sold out the main room. In fairness too, there is a more than decent crowd next door as those who eschew such throwaway froth.

It is not surprising that the fans are out either. This is Brad’s first ever show in Birmingham. Which makes this gig a pretty big deal. Oh, and did we mention that Satchel frontman Shawn Smith and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam (amongst others) are in this group. Whilst the bands notoriously low profile means RTM forgives you for not knowing, we are in supergroup territory ladies and gents.

As such, these are heady times for Worcestershire’s New Killer Shoes. The fact that this show is close to their hometown is mere happenstance. They are not “local support” on this jaunt. They are instead the opening act on the whole of this Brad European jaunt.

From the off it appears that the four piece are here to take the chance with both hands. When last we saw the band, opening for Eddie And The Hot Rods last Autumn they were a guitarist down. Here, back to full strength, they offer a more muscular sound. They have a nice line in harmonies, new single “Snakecharmer” is a catchy affair and “Happy Families” shows a darker side. This is a local band that seems to have the right indie crossover ingredients.

Crossing over is not something that has ever bothered Brad. Since the 1990s they have specialised in making the records they want to make, it just so happens that those records have a haunting, beguiling quality that is hard to pull off and even harder to quantify.

It soon becomes apparent that this is not going to be your normal rock gig. Shawn Smith sits at a piano and flexes his astonishing voice around the understated “Buttercup” and if his cowboy hat and beard sees him look like a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, his band are genuinely one of a kind.

They turn into a lounge jazz band during the laid back “Waters Deep” get all funky on us in “20^th Century” which sees Gossard banging on the Tom Toms, while arguable set highlight “Diamond Blues” saw them give a passable imitation of the Stones.

However, whilst in large measure this gig was incredible, there were a couple of missed steps towards the end which stopped it being perfect. For a start the encore was split into two parts, with Smith’s solo section of two Satchel songs rather dragging to the point of self-indulgence. Then when the band are back they end with a raucous cover of “Jumping Jack Flash” …or at least they should have. What they actually did was rather pointlessly reprise “Buttercup” again before bidding us farewell.

Whilst these are minor quibbles, perhaps, they did, for RTM’s money rather spoil what was a pretty incredible thing for the most part.

That said, as we walk down the street past all the pop fans, you can’t help but reflect on the fact that essentially within the same building the opposite ends of music were on show tonight. The disposable pop chanteuse might get the mainstream coverage, but we are glad that we are on the side of the genuinely original cult rock band that gave us a magnificent couple of hours.

Gossard in particular doesn’t need to be here. He can play arenas whenever he wants with his day job. That he was here shows he just loves playing music and that shone through tonight. 

ORANGE GOBLIN, Admiral Sir Coudsley Shovel, Earls Of Mars @Slade Rooms Wolverhampton 6/2/13

Blimey. Earls Of Mars, when you see them for the first time, will probably engender that sort of reaction (ok probably a lot stronger but we try and keep it clean at RTM). They are, we suspect, the type of band that will provoke a strong feeling one way or the other.

Frontman Harry Armstrong it transpires sang on tonights headliners “The Big Black” album – later joining them onstage – and is an old friend of the band. He stands stage front, bashing away on a keyboard, while someone else plays the double bass, while prog riffs wail over the top. RTM loves them and by the time they finish “The Mirrored Staircase” we are very much in the blimey-in-a-good-way camp.

Despite the name, Sir Admiral Cloudsley Shovel, are a more straightforward affair. Signed to the mark of stoner rock quality that is Rise Above, theirs is a twin guitar, galloping bass sound of proper classic 1970s heavy metal.

Frontman Johnny Gorilla deadpans to the crowd: “You might have heard of us, but you probably haven’t.” However, their astonishingly good “Don’t Hear It….Fear It” record should change that. “Red Admiral Black Sunrise” is multi-riffed freak out, while their cover of the Groundhogs “Bulletproof” showcases a blusier side. Goblin front man Ben Ward joins them for set closer “Thicker The Better. “ Daft name they might have, but these Admiral’s are set fair – and any band with a song called “Scratching And Sniffing” is ok with us.

Over the last few months Orange Goblin have thrust themselves into the limelight as one of the finest bands in Britain. No longer the cult preserve of a few beardy fellas who like massive riffs, they released the absolutely magnificent “A Eulogy For The Damned” album in 2012 (it won the RTM best album of the year poll) while their live shows just get better and better – as they showed when touring with down last Autumn. Happily the gig going public of Great Britain are catching on and despite this being in the middle of a mammoth UK tour, the Slade Rooms is approaching full.

Even better, the crowd is treated to a show that will surely rank as one of the best of the year. Beginning with “Scorpionica” and continuing with the “Filthy And The Few,” Goblin in those two songs showcase all that makes them quite so marvelous. The riffs are huge but catchy and man mountain singer Ward delivers the songs with such conviction that you cannot help but get carried along.

Whilst there are plenty of songs from “…Damned” the band uses the occasion to dust off some old stuff too. The pick of these, perhaps, is a trip back to the first album (16 years old, where does the time go!?)  for “Saruman’s Wish” which sounds re-invigorated tonight.

Guitarist Joe Hoare stands stage left casually and effortlessly knocking out the riffs, perhaps at his best during “Cosmo Bozo.” The main set ends with “Harvest Of Souls” and “Quincy The Pigboy” before “Blue Snow” and “Eulogy’s” glorious opener “Red Tide Rising” bids us farewell.

This winter tour apparently is not the last activity from Goblin in 2013 – and the band have already played with Clutch this year – with Ward promising to see us again the autumn. Whether that heralds new material too is unclear (there is a live album slated) but that matters little, because on this form Orange Goblin are simply unstoppable. 

HIGH ON FIRE, Jumping Jacks, Lizard @Academy2. Birmingham 1/2/13

Lizard are a tough band to find anything out about. Men (and woman) of mystery they may be, but the three piece certainly make a pleasant noise. There are grunge and stoner elements to their progy metal brew, but the whole thing is driven along by some excellent double kick drumming. We would be interested in finding out more.

Next up are Jumping Jack. The name is awful, sounding like some horrible nightclub in a provincial town, but what we actually get is a French stoner band, who much like Lizard, are a very entertaining proposition New album “Trucks And Bones” has much to commend it, not least of which is “She Made No Resist.” Vocalist/guitarist Julian ensures there is plenty to enjoy throughout the brief half-hour sojourn. French might not be the first place you think of when it comes to metal, but now, slowly thanks to Gojira and the newer breed such as Jumping Jack, that perception might have to be re-thought.

What can we say about High on Fire? For 13 years now Matt Pike and his mates have been knocking out superior quality grooves. Sounding not unlike Motorhead playing Pantera covers. Their live shows are notoriously loud. When RTM last saw the group, in the middle of a three band bill topped by Fear Factory, in Nottingham a couple of years ago, Pike stood there shirtless, screaming something at the top of his lungs. We didn’t know what it was about – still don’t – but by golly, you had to admire the conviction.

Happily not much has changed in the intervening period. Pike, guitarist in the doom legends, Sleep, has had his brushes with ill health, but looks happy and healthy (and still shirtless) as he surveys the 500 or so people that have turned out to watch.

The crowd are rewarded with 80 minutes of some of the most powerful US stoner doom around. This is a set that doesn’t just concentrate on the last two albums “Snakes For The Divine” and current opus “De Vermis Mysteriis” – the pair of albums that have largely given them a profile on these shores – but rather spans much of their career.

However, it is with “Mysteriis’” opening track that they begin and “Serums of Liao” sounds as gargantuan as you might expect. This is followed up with the equally mighty “Frost Hammer” and the tone is set.

Pike keeps chatting to a minimum. Occasionally bellowing song titles when the mood takes him. One of the times he does this is to signal the start of “Rumors Of War” and another is to yell “Snakes For The Divine” – the slice of magnificence they choose to end with.

There is no encore, which perhaps sums the group up. They sound enormous, but there is absolutely nothing flashy about them whatsoever. In fact, a less rock-star-y bunch of rock stars you would struggle to find.

High on Fire are quite simply just a damn fine metal band, with damn fine songs and one which is best enjoyed live.

DANNY AND BEN @The Glee Club, Birmingham 28/1/12

About this time last year, Danny Bowes and Ben Matthews, two fifths of Thunder for the last near enough 25 years, toured the country telling stories and playing some songs acoustically.

Being the Thunder fans we are at RTM when it was announced that they were doing it all over again, we had to go.

So it is that we find ourselves back at The Glee Club to watch Danny And Ben Bend Yer Ear, which is what this evening is being billed as. The problem is, that apart from the fact that we are, just about, the biggest Thunder fans on the planet, there is not a lot else to commend this evening in advance. Acoustic music isn’t RTM’s bag, and we couldn’t claim to be huge fans of stand up comedy either. Nonetheless last year was very enjoyable, so we are back for more.

The format for the evening is an almost exact copy of the 2012 version – although from memory it is slightly longer, clocking in at well over two and a half hours. Bowes tells stories, Matthews is almost the Eric Morecambe to his Ernie Wise (insert your own contemporary reference here…we did say we don’t know comedy!!) and in between the banter, songs break out.

Some of the stories are genuinely funny; one in particular about their appearance on Top of the Pops with Take That was superb, others don’t quite hit the mark, largely it has to be said, because they are a tad scripted. The pair deserve credit too, for keeping the show more or less entirely different from last time around, with only one section, an admittedly funny tale about drummer Harry James, being retold.

The songs meanwhile fall into the same category. Mostly they are different – from memory only “Better Man” was played last year.  The Thunder songs – lets be honest this is why we are here – are rapturously received and it is a treat to hear “Englishman on Holiday” and “Back Street Symphony” in this setting. The covers are innovative too, and the jazz version of “War Pigs” (no, really!) works better than you might think.

One area where this was better than last year was in the audience participation stakes. Whereas last time “Blackbird” was just too knockabout, the version of “Unchain My Heart” this time, which saw a chap on a cowbell one side of the room and two others onstage was far better.

Last year we wrote of the evening: “Less of a gig more an informal gathering of friends, you wouldn’t want every concert to be like this – but you are glad this one was.”

We stick by that this time too, but at least in 2013 we will get to see Danny And Ben doing their day job when they open for Whitesnake in May – and that will be even better!

EMMA SCOTT PRESENTS: Only The Good, Glassbullet, Eradikator, Bullitstorm, Elysium @Academy 3 Birmingham 12/1/13

The crowd is pretty packed in the Academy 3 for this first Emma Scott Metal showcase of 2013. Elysium are nearing the end of their set when they tell us about their new EP. “Its got a special guest on it,” says one of their two singers. “Who has heard of Sonic Syndicate?” There is – and there is no other way to put this – stony silence. “Well that one died on its arse,” says the other vocalist, grinning. “Just Google em!”

The happy chaps in Elysium are a new band on us at RTM, but one that we suspect we will see more of. Their approach of one clean vocal followed by something more growled works oddly well in their sound and closing number “Slave” is very impressive.

The name Bullitstorm when first we saw it made us think of either an old school thrash band or something more death metal. In the event, the Walsall four piece are more akin to Saxon or Iron Maiden. Dedicating their first song “Drumhead” to our troops, their half hour is entertaining. “Drumhead” in common with some of their other songs, goes on a little too long, but their guitar work is exemplary. Ballad “Innocent Victims” changes the tempo and is welcome, while last track “Shake Your Bones” with its slightly questionable lyrics perhaps didn’t work as well. Good fun for the most part, though.

If the first two groups have been playing metal for a bit of laugh and because they enjoy it, then vibe is altogether different for Brummie thrashers Eradikator. These boys mean business – and frankly they are quite stunning. The four piece kick off with the majestic “Hells Sentinels” and throughout the rest of their half hour proceed to be the best new thrash band we’ve seen in years, perhaps since Evile, and if sounds like high praise then it is well deserved. You know the influences but Eradikator are doing something fresh in a superbly paced set that ends with a Thin Lizzy cover. Frankly it doesn’t get better than that.

Glassbullet have to follow this. And do it pretty well. Beginning with a bluesy jam, they are the most hard rock of the bands on show tonight. They also choose a cover – theirs a little more obvious in “Paranoid” but also play a drum solo in their slot, which seems odd given the time constraints. It is also a shame as when they play their own songs, such as “Find My Mind” they are much better.

Disappointingly the crowd, which had earlier been close to filling the venue, has thinned out a lot by the time that headliners Only The Good hit the stage, but if they are annoyed by this, they don’t show it and instead plough through a very decent and pretty polished half hour.

Theirs is a twin guitar sound and with guitarists Jase and Liam clad in Megadeth and Iron Maiden t-shirts respectively, you know the drill here. What they do though, is wrap the riffs up in a very catchy way, and there is much to enjoy about songs like the title track of their new EP “Time Flies,” “Do Or Die” and “Black White And Grey” – the latter shows some talent in other areas too, with its almost punky vibe.

The tunes groove nicely and the solos are superb and they are an excellent way to end what has been a fine evening, even if Eradikator, did for our money, take the honours here tonight.

BRIT ROCK ARMY PRESENTS: Demise, Severed Ties @The Flapper, Birmingham 8/1/13

The first week of the New Year is a weird thing. It’s not Christmas, its not festive. No one has any money, no one has been paid, and no one really is feeling up for much.  If this partly explains the lower than would be ideal turnout, then it only tells part of the story.

Add to that the not inconsiderable headache that one of tonight’s trio of bands has pulled out on the day of the event, then you can only commend all concerned for putting the thing on at all.

It must be difficult organising these types of gigs on at the best of times. And – lets be totally honest about this – January 8^th when it’s raining outside and when Villa are in the semi-final of a cup, isn’t exactly the best of times.

This hasn’t stopped two of the West Midlands most promising rock and metal bands from taking the stage with relish. Severed Ties have only been around for a few months, having formed last year, but have already been gigging extensively and released the fine EP – (which you can download for free from Bandcamp)

RTM owes them an apology, however, we didn’t manage to get there until 8pm, by which time they were around halfway through their set. One of their number is wearing a Behemoth t-shirt, while singer Aidan is sporting a Slash one. Quite apart from the fact that at RTM we always like it when bands wear gig t-shirts, their sound has very little to do with either band. Their ambitions seem to be somewhat more in the prog metal sphere. Not many young groups stick out a “semi-conceptual” first EP but these boys have. They clearly have plenty of talent, as a pretty faithful cover of “Creeping Death” by way of a closer shows. Ones to watch in 2013.

Cannock’s Demise have been together a little longer, but are still to unleash their debut recording on the world. They bill themselves as a “riff-heavy Southern rock band.” But if the term “southern rock” conjures up images of confederate flags and “Sweet Home Alabama” then you are in the wrong area. When these boys say “Southern Rock” they mean New Orleans, Louisiana and the same swamps that brought us Down, Eyehategod and the rest.

Demise have evidently – and ashamedly, given their cover of “Lifer” – listened to plenty of Phil Anselmo’s mob over the years and seeing as they one of our favourite bands too, there is a lot to like.

That is not to say that this is a mere derivative pastiche, however, in fact they echo the groove heavy riffs of Black Spiders in parts. They are blessed with a fine lead guitarist in Craig Williamson and his excellent work lifts songs above the norm.

With only two bands on the bill they get to play an longer set than normal, which after “Contender” closes things actually sees Severed Ties Aidan join them for a good fun, knockabout version of Pantera’s “Walk” which both groups clearly enjoy. It brings a real good, fun night to a close.

It is a night that proves – if nothing else – underground metal in the West Midlands has plenty to shout about this year.

THE SWORD, Lonely Kamel, Alunah @Wolverhampton Slade Rooms 6/1/12

We first clapped eyes on Alunah not far off two years ago. Since then they have released the “White Hoarhound” record and are developing very nicely. Opening at an early time tonight the crowd is a little thin, but the local stoner mob have a nice line in slow, Sabbathy tunes. The title track of the new album is perhaps the highlight of a set that not even the loss of vocals halfway through and frontwoman Sophie struggling with a sore throat can spoil too much. Here is a Brummie band playing traditional Brummie metal and doing it well.

Lonely Kamel were a new one on us. Not really surprising considering that it was, according to frontman Thomas Brenna, their first time on these shores. They Norwegian’s bill themselves as “Blues Boozers” and although they are broadly – like the rest of this bill – a stoner outfit, they are one in the same vein as RTM faves Stone Axe. Rather than Sabbath, they take their cue from classic rock bands like Thin Lizzy. It also helps that they give the appearance that they live in a van.

Their sound is built around the superb guitar work of Brenna and lead axeman Lukas Paulsen and such is the fun they are having in their 45 minute set they carry the audience with them. “Rotten Seed” and “Blues For The Dead” have an instant appeal, but really, the whole thing was a copper-bottomed triumph. One of their songs is called “Roadtrip with Lucifer” for goodness sake, how does it get better than that? Our new favourite band to bore everyone about – bet your last pound on it.

Austin, Texas foursome The Sword have plenty to look forward to right now. Tonight is the first show on their European tour and this is not just any tour either. It is one to celebrate the majestic “Apocryphon” record and happily they play most of it during their frequently brilliant set.

It is with the album’s title track that they kick us off this evening, before moving us right back to their debut record “Age of Winters” for “Freya.” Indeed it is a well structured show which sees the song “How Heavy This Axe” from the second and the fourth “Tres Brujas” being from 2010’s “Warp Riders.”

“….Brujas” neatly sums up the band. It’s verses about “the sacred smoke” wrapped up in an extremely catchy and tight track. It is a style that the “Apocryphon” album has built on superbly and its second track “Cloak Of Feathers” sounds incredible in this setting as does set closer “Veil of Isis.”

There is a time for an encore of “Winters Wolves” with frontman John D Cronise explaining it was the only choice for a gig in a place called Wolverhampton. At its end you are left to reflect on the jaw-dropping power of the group.

There is nothing remotely flashy or gimmicky about The Sword, indeed, if they suffer from one flaw it is a slight lack of charisma. They are a group, though, that rather like obvious brothers in arms Red Fang and Mastodon, prefer to let the music do the talking. It didn’t so much talk tonight as shout very loudly.

A quite superb way to start 2013.