Music: Reading Festival 2010 Review

Moody rock stars, muddier teenagers and a plethora of fantastic music and comedy performers made up this year’s Reading Festival weekend.

The rain began on Thursday 26 and continued on and off through the Friday to create one of the most water-logged festivals of recent years.

Classic rock fans refused to have their spirits dampened by the rain and earnestly awaited Guns ‘n’ Roses Main Stage headlining performance on Friday evening. Unfortunately they waited far longer than anyone expected and when frontman Axl Rose waltzed on stage at 10.30pm the band were already an hour late for their advertised slot.

The heavyweight rockers, famous for hits such as ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ and ‘November Rain’, had already kept fans waiting 10 years for their latest album Chinese Democracy, but once the music began the crowd’s discontent softened a little.

Despite festival management company Festival Republic allowing the band to play on for an extra half an hour, they were forced to switch of the sound system at 12.00pm to comply with Reading Borough Council’s licensing, leaving Axl mouthing along to muffled drum sounds.

Being a no-good rock and roller though Rose felt this was not the end and promptly picked up a nearby megaphone to sing along with the crowd in the most original rendition of ‘Paradise City’ in the band’s history.

Guns may have failed to capture the crowds’ imagination but across the (now sodden) grass in the Lock Up tent American pop-rockers Alkaline Trio were delivering a solid performance.

Elsewhere on the Friday Queens of the Stone Age and Lostprophets oozed energy on the Main Stage and both had the crowd singing along to their greatest hits.

Saturday brought a clash between the thumping drum and bass outfit Pendulum and the mellow radio-friendly sounds of Arcade Fire, whose latest album The Suburbs jumped to the top of the album charts last week. Both bands were well received, with the crowd chanting the haunting chorus of Arcade Fire’s ‘Wake Up’ for hours after the music had finished.

In the midst of the battle for supremacy, NOFX showed up as a secret act on the Lock Up stage to entertain the crowd with their usual jibes, even inviting Frank Turner on to join them during their 18 minute epic song 'The Decline,' which they performed in full. Soon after came the band that really shone through on Saturday night: Bad Religion. The group's 30-year-old political punk sounds united old and new fans with a fantastically diverse set delivering hit after hit.

Earlier in the afternoon The Mystery Jets hypnotised the audience with songs from their latest album Serotonin and Dizzee Rascal united rock and pop fans with his bizarre range of styles, including a rendition of his own version of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ as well as his own hits ‘Bonkers’ and ‘Jus a Rascal’.

Sunday saw a departure from the usual tradition of heavy metal bands to have pop-punk kings Blink 182 closing the festival amid fans of all ages. A particular visual highlight was drummer Travis Barker’s 360 degree drum kit, which spun in all directions, leaving him upside down while he thrashed out a blistering drum solo.

Guitarist Tom Delongue fared less well as he constantly forgot lyrics and at one point got distracted when he spotted Dominic Howard, the drummer for the British rock group Muse, watching them from the side of the stage.

The Alternative Tent retained its consistently high calibre of acts this year, with Adam Bloom, Robin Ince and Russell Kane, who had only just arrived at the festival after being awarded the Edinburgh Comedy Award the previous day, all having the tent in stitches from start to finish.

Despite some typically British weather, the festival delivered a fantastic weekend of entertainment. There was some slightly over-zealous fire fighting on the final night, but generally new safety measures managed to cut down the amount of crime and dangerous gas explosions, which have tarnished the event’s reputation for years. Roll on 2011.

James Michael Parry

music, rock, festival, Reading Festival, Reading Rock, James Michael Parry, live, bands, indie, punk, Guns 'n' Roses, Arcade Fire, Blink 182

Music: Reading Festival 2010 Special - Headliners

August's arrival can mean only one thing - the countdown to Reading Festival 2010 - this year's alternative music extravaganza has well and truly begun.

Over 100 artists from various music genres and levels of commercial success will take to the six stages over three days at what Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighter's described as "The best festival in the world".

Unfortunately with so many countless bands to chose from it can be difficult to choose who to see to guarantee maximum musical enjoyment (and subsequently drunkenness). So, in order to avoid potential panic, This Is Entertainment presents the the first part of the essential Reading Festival 'Must-see' Guide.



The big names

The reason people go to festivals is to see the big headline acts right? Perhaps...but it's not true for everyone.

The beauty of festivals is that so many acts are available all at once, meaning you might wander aimlessly into a tent at 2pm on the Saturday to discover a band you never would have listened to otherwise. The point of this guide as a whole is to give direction to your aimless wanderings, but before all that let's start with the basics and look at the big names.

Guns 'n' Roses

A band out of touch and out of its time grace the Reading Festival stage for the first time - despite appearing at Leeds in 2002, which is surprising considering the bands worldwide fame. In their heyday at the end of the 80s they were one of the world's most intimidating rock groups, even providing a tune for Terminator 2: Judgement Day in 1991.

Now though, they are a shadow of their former self, with frontman Axl Rose recovering from a decade-long ego trip trying to piece together his magnum opus Chinese Democracy and the fighting between Axl and former band members has dragged on for decades.

Still, there is a new line up - with only Axl remaining as founding member - and fan response to their latest album wasn't terrible, but I still can't see them being as fun as Alkaline Trio.

Tracks to catch: Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City, Shackler's Revenge
Verdict: Miss

Arcade Fire

The radio-friendly indie band of the festival takes control on the Saturday, a theme which echoes down through the rest of the main stage, though more will be overjoyed by the resurgence of drug-fuelled Pete Doherty and The Libertines.

For Arcade Fire though the appearance couldn't have come at a better time, with their new album The Suburbs assaulting the charts at this very moment after jumping to the number one spot after its release last week.

If you're wondering what songs the band sing then it's quite difficult to nail down a song you may have heard of, the style is very much that of modern hippies, a swaying, laid back sort of pop/rock, though one or two tracks might be familiar from BBC television show adverts.

Tracks to catch: Rebellion (Lies), Wake Up, Keep The Car Running
Verdict: Maybe

Blink 182

Another reformation but this time a welcome one, the nasally voiced teenage heart-break-ridden trio have returned to give us a reason to smile as the last act of the weekend.

The pedigree of the band is sketchy at best - strangely people don't take a band seriously if they run along a road naked in their videos... - but that's the point of Blink, they entertain first and foremost.

During their last appearance in 2003 the band made even the most tight-faced Blink-haters soften a little with their mixture of boyish banter, catchy tunes and audience participation - at one point they had the audience hold up their phones instead of lighters because "it's the 21st Century now kids."

With a new album nearing completion (expected early 2011), fans will be hoping to hear some new songs, and praying they are as good as they remember. It's been a long time since their last self-titled album in 2003 and the fans are all grown up now, their spirits dampened with years of recession, war and no new pop punk heavyweights around to liven things up.

Tracks to catch: Carousel, The Rock Show, All The Small Things
Verdict: Must See

Stay tuned to This Is Entertainment for more crucial band details...

What NOT to do...

Reading Festival 2010, music, rock, festival, bands, tracks, must see, essential guide, August Bank Holiday Weekend, live, performance, gig, James Michael Parry

Music: News - Freddie Mercury Day

Queen were (yes, past tense, I'm looking at you Paul Rodgers) one of the finest rock bands of all time, and British music without them would be a shadow of the multi-genred beast it is today.

As a band which transcended different styles of music - you only need to compare songs from Greatest Hits 1 to Greatest Hits 2 - Queen are still one of the most well-known pop bands of the 70s and 80s. None of that legacy would have been possible without the presence of one flamboyant front man: Freddie Mercury.

His showmanship and song-writing skills were unmatched and the band's live shows were brought roaring to life as soon as he entered the stage.

Sadly, Freddie died in 1991, aged 45, from bronchial pneumonia as a result of contracting the AIDS virus.

Following his death the remaining members of Queen founded the Mercury Pheonix Trust in 1992, a charity organisation which has raised millions of pounds for various charities and helped to raise AIDS awareness.

The latest fundraising idea from the Trust asks fans to spend a day dressed as Freddie Mercury on September 3 this year, around what would have been his birthday.

Here's some information about the idea from the charity itself:

What is Freddie For A Day?

Freddie For A Day is a celebration of the life of Freddie Mercury, which is meant to engage members of the public in a fun way to remember one of our greatest artists, but behind it is the earnest purpose of raising funds to support the continued work in fighting HIV AIDS worldwide.

How Did Freddie For A Day Get Started?

Freddie For A Day began as a lone ranger initiative dreamed up by City worker Liz Swanton who also gives her time to editing the Mercury Phoenix Trust website (www.mercuryphoenixtrust.com).  Tying in with the recent 8^th birthday celebrations for the Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You’, Liz came up with the idea of spending a whole working day dressed as Freddie.

So When Will Freddie For A Day Take Place?

Freddie For A Day will take place this year on September 3. Normally, Freddie For A Day will take place on Freddie’s birthday (September 5), however when the birthday falls on a weekend, such as this year, it will always be on the Friday before.

Who Can Take Part?

Anyone.  Naturally, the first people to have decided to join in are the core fans, but Liz and the Mercury Phoenix Trust organisers are hoping that the challenge to live out a normal day in a Freddie costume – with all the fun attached – and with the purpose of raising money to help the worldwide work being done by the MPT, will have a wide public appeal.

How Do You Get Involved?

All you need to do is dress up as Freddie for a day and get your friends, family and school friends or work colleagues to sponsor you.  You can set up or get an adult to set up for you your own web page at www.justgiving.com and send this to those supporting you so they can sponsor you online.

If you are unable to donate online you can send in cheques directly to the MPT at the address below. Cheques should be made out to The Mercury Phoenix Trust.

The Mercury Phoenix Trust,

22 Cottage Offices,

Latimer Park,

Latimer road,

Chesham,

Buck, HP5 1TU

So, there you have it, if you fancy doing something charitable and horrifically embarrassing what better reasoning can you get?  I'm not one to be charitable, but he was certainly a phenomenal entertainer and the cause is a worthy one, so if you plan to do anything charitable this year, why not give this a go.

James Micheal Parry

Music: Album Review: Feeder – Renegades

For a band who have been in and out of the limelight since 2001's fantastic Echo Park catapulted them to fame with 'Buck Rogers', Feeder have a surprising amount of energy.

With previous album Silent Cry not getting the sales the band's label, Echo, had hoped, it proved to be the beginning of the end for them, as it was announced in 2008 they were being restructured into a “copyright exploitation” company, according to a report from parent company Chrysalis Group.

The band then lost fill-in drummer Mark Richardson to a Skunk Anansie reunion in 2009, and he was replaced by Karl Brazil as the band began the most bold step in their career.

Since they had no UK label, they decided to create one themselves and thus Big Teeth Music was born. Soon Feeder announced they were returning not as Feeder but as Renegades, a side project-cum-masquerade which allowed them to blame live without everyone expecting all of Feeder's chart-topping hits.

Renegades did a six date tour of intimate shows and released a four track EP, which was quickly followed by another tour of slightly larger venues and a follow-up EP. Disclaimers at the events stated Feeder wouldn't be playing their popular hits and if fans were unaware of this they could have a full refund, as it turned out the gigs were a massive success (check out my review of the Camden show) and the band announced shortly afterwards they would return as Feeder with their seventh studio album: Renegades.

The album is a furious attack of all Feeder's raw energy and passion, which translates into some pretty heavy music. Fans of tunes like 'Just The Way I'm Feeling' and 'Forget About Tomorrow' will be lost here, this album is loud and relentless – the closest thing to a slow song is the slightly haunting 'Down By The River'.

The songs from the two Renegades EPs are dotted around the album, with the title track being a particular high point, and from the first few moments of grungy, distorted guitar your mind is slung back to a few choice tracks from Feeders back catalogue like 'Godzilla', 'Choke' and 'Descend', left like breadcrumbs to lead the band to this point.

The first single from the album 'Call Out' has a similar upbeat tone to 'Miss You' and 'Lost and Found' despite some fairly dry lyrics and maintains Feeder's catchiness. Because the songs on the album all have a similar tempo, it's difficult at first to separate them, but in a way this works to the band's advantage, since it focuses the audience and forces them to stay on the same page.

Stand out tracks include the hypnotic opener 'White Lines', angst-filled 'Sentimental' and the show-stopping 'Home', which exemplifies exactly what is good about this 'new' Feeder, hitting the mark in every area and providing an anthemic chorus at the album's midpoint.

Like so many albums the songs fall away towards the end, with the baffling 'Left Food Right' sounding like a sped up version of Family Guy's parody of Randy Newman, but overall the album delivers the adrenaline which Feeder fans have been missing since the gritty rock sound of the band's debut – Polythene.

If you feel like this album sounds a bit too much, never fear, the band have already promised a second album later in the year to cater for the lighter side of the bands repertoire, but for fans who've been with them all the way, this is a welcome reminder that the band aren't past it just yet.

Rating: 4/5

James Michael Parry

Live Music:Renegades (of Feeder) at The Electric Ballroom, Camden 22/04/10

Old bands 'going back to their roots' is nothing new, but when Feeder completely regenerated as Renegades, something changed significantly. Gone were the slow and thoughtful songs of old which dwelled on the untimely death of original drummer Jon Lee and in their place fans found the energy and simplicity of a fresh new band, as if the group had been transported back to their formation in 1992.

In the transition drummer Mark Richardson was replaced with Karl Brazil, from the relatively unknown band Ben's Brother, who encapsulates the bands new-found new energy with furious and relentless drumbeats.

Front-man Grant Nicholas, who you imagine came up with the 'back to basics' concept, continues to impress on stage at The Electric Ballroom, a venue far smaller than the likes of the Hammersmith Apollo which they played on the Silent Cry tour only a few years ago.

Nicholas admitted he had a soft spot for the Ballroom, saying: “I love this venue. We haven't played here for about 12 years, but even now I remember the great atmosphere it always has.”

Posters on the front doors warn Feeder fans expecting the likes of 'Buck Rogers' and 'Just A Day' that the band will be playing 'predominantly new material', and sure enough they don't disappoint, the most recent, and debatably well-known, of the tracks played is 2006's 'Lost and Found'.

“We know you all want to hear the hits”, Nicholas cries across a crowd spanning decades, “but this is really about the new material and moving forward.”

Luckily the new material delivers the sort of quality we've come to expect from Feeder over the years, albeit a bit more gritty, new band anthem 'Renegades' has even the most lost-looking fans singing along and 'Home' and 'Down By The River', a nod to the bands native Wales, stand up well on stage.

Free with the gig comes Renegades EP2, complete with four tracks: 'Home', 'Goodhead', 'In Times Of Crisis' and 'All I Ever Wanted', making a perfect souvenir for fans who are now left salivating expectantly for the bands new(/debut?) album.

For those feeling out-of-step with the Renegades there were a few 'covers' of Feeder tunes including 'Tangerine', 'Godzilla', 'Sweet 16' and grungy set-closer 'Descend'.

While many may have been disappointed with the lack of hits - the crowd broke into 'Just A Day''s infectious main riff more than once - the band is doing what it wants to do, from the plain but bold style of the merchandise to downsizing to smaller venues, and it feels a lot more personal and as though they are more connected with their fans than ever before.

Verdict: Possibly too much for the Feeder pop fans, but for those longing for some dynamic and striking music from fantastic musicians the night was nothing short of amazing.

Rating: 5/5

Album Review: Muse - The Resistance

Like an eerie remake of the Doctor Who theme tune, The Resistance trundles into life with the haunting “Uprising”, its first single, ushering in a welcome return for Devon's greatest ever export: Muse.

It's three years since the band's epic Black Holes and Revelations stormed the charts, delivering the band their second number one album and the first to go double-platinum, as well as the distinctly un-Muse-like single “Supermassive Black Hole”.

Listening to Resistance the gaps between the Muse of old and the band as they are now have been filled in, stripping back some of the dancier elements in favour of a more bass-driven sound like that used on breakthrough release Origin of Symmetry.

The album as a whole takes rebellion as its central theme, and despite much discussion about its 15 minute song, the “Exogenisis: Symphony”, it is tucked away at the end of the record, but provides a worthy climax of musical and song-writing prowess to summarise what the entire album is about.

The piano makes a welcome return in this album, with over half of the tracks featuring frontman Matt Bellamy's instrument of choice prominently, creating moments where the band resembles Freddie Mercury's Queen. In many ways they have become the Queen of the modern day, since no other current guitar-based British band has maintained popularity for so long with such a theatrical feeling.

The third track, “Undisclosed Desires”, (the second of four tracks beginning with 'U' on the album) deserves to be the strongest single release, with the synthesized strings and relentless beat driving forward a story of the deadly nature of love.

There's none of the anger of Black Holes' “Assassin” here, but that doesn't mean the album is without it's powerful moments, just that they come in dark lyrical choices and a continuous strong bassline. The guitar takes a back seat once again this time, with only a few notable riffs to speak of, but strangely it isn't missed as much as expected, as the other instruments step up to take its place.

Bellamy teasingly reminds us of one of the band's staples in “Unnatural Selection” by basing the riff around the impact-ridden guitar intro section of “New Born”, suggesting it may be some sort of sequel, something which the band have done in the past with “Sing For Absolution” and “Starlight”.

Every track feels very much at home, unlike the occasional track in the past where you feel the band have dropped the ball and things sound out of place like “Hoodoo” or “Megalomania”, this album is complete and listens well all the way through without nagging you to skip past to the next song.

The album as a whole is one where tranquility and anger are uneasy bedfellows. In “United States of Eurasia” for example, the sombre piano quickly makes way for a flurry of musical build up, but the transition is well handled and serves to hold the audiences attention. Because it is for an audience, as much as a CD is designed for a listener, this one is presented as a spectacle; grand strings, foreign vocals and quiet moments combine with pounding drums and bellowing bass to create nothing short of a fully modern rock opera.

Introducing: Streetfight Silence Live from the Cellar Bar Bracknell

Bracknell's Cellar Bar was rocked to its foundations last night when 80s-inspired synth rock band Streetfight Silence took to the stage.

Though they were second on the bill, the three-piece, Bracknell based themselves, wipped the crowd out of their Sunday night comfort zones to get connected with some quality music.

Russ Merry, who spends his days working at Legoland to pay the bills, tackles lead vocals and guitar with Chris Cooley on the drums and Chris Penfold on bass. The group have already won the Wokingham Battle of the Bands, bagging them a cool £200 and time at a high end recording studio, making them a hot contender for this year's Best British Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards.

The gig drew an sizeable crowd and managed to get them singing along to melodic ballad “After All”. The energetic performance brought the dingy venue to life with some solid drumming, ambitious bass and impressive guitar work from Russ himself.

The band will soon go into the studio to record more material, but you can get your hands on the “Skys The Limit” EP now, or check out myspace.com/streetfightsilence.

Live: The Living End at Manchester Club Academy 21/04/09

Blistering guitar, infectious drums and slammin' double-bass were order of the day in Manchester as Aussie trio The Living End stormed the Club Academy.

As competent support act Tellison left the stage the crowd was wrought with anticipation, it has been two years since the boys last played in Manchester, and tensions were beginning to run very high.

With an explosion of sound, the band leapt into fast-paced opener Raise The Alarm from new album White Noise. The crowd embraced the new material as if it had been in their minds for years, 'woah-ing' at every opportunity.

Following up a strong with a set filled with classics like Prisoner of Society, Roll On and We Want More. Anthemic new tunes such as How Do We Know were accepted by the audience after only a moments hesitation, uniting the groups wide age range of fans in one voice.

With such energy on stage you might expect the musical precision to suffer, but if anything it was enhanced, with lead man Chris Cheney's fingers flying up and down the fretboard of his eletcro-acoustic axe, which is largely responsible for the band's distinct rock n roll twang.

Beat master Andy Strachan relentlessly pounded the drums with an impressive mix of perfectly crafted rock beats, stopping only for a moment when he got a little over-excited and cracked a cymbal.

The third side of this rock triangle belongs to Scott Owen and his famous double-bass. Immediately giving Owen a massive presence on stage, the bass is over a metre and a half from scroll to spike and almost a metre wide, its difference in sound from a standard electric bass is noticeable, as well as the custom glow-in-the-dark paint job leading to the looming presence of a glowing skull when the lights go down.

Owen's impressive party piece sees him hoist the great instrument up in the air and proceed to play behind his head in homage to the great Jimi Hendrix.

Cheney, not to be out-done, soon teamed up with Owen to climb up the side of the bass for a dramatic finale, before using a nearby beer bottle as a real bottleneck to unleash an astounding slide solo as beer sprayed everywhere, only relenting to down the last few drops.

Musical improvisation was by no means an isolated incident, as the threesome broke into fierce upbeat arrangements numerous times during the evening, as the crowd looked on with awe and wonder.

Despite the recent turmoil in their homeland from bush fires, the band were determined to show England that it had only strengthened their resolve on stage, and kept excitement levels raised until the very last. A truly mesmerising show.