This page is part of the reviews section. ∏
Last edited: 1st June 2014
Music diary for May 2014
Gigs and events that we were at this month.
For previous months see: April, March, February, January
30th May
We were at The Shed for the first of two semi-final shows put on by Play@LMF.
29th May
Young bands night at The Shed.
24th May
The first day of the Glastonbudget Festival. Working for us there were Mat and Jamie Borland.
Read our coverage of Glastonbudget Festival 2014.
18th May
Preparations are now under way for Music in Leicester’s coverage of the Glastonbudget Music Festival (23rd to 25th May.) Our team of writers and photographers will be at the festival to cover as much of it as we can. Find out more about this summer’s music festival, right here on MIL’s Festivals Page.
17th May
We were at The Musician for the grand final of the OBS.
Six bands played in the final: Tapestry, 8 Miles High, Ash Mammal, Stop That Train, The Della Grants and Beneath The Lights.
The semi-final for I Wanna Be A Rockstar took place at The Shed tonight. Watch out for an article, being prepared now, on this competition for bands and artists. The final takes place at The Shed on Saturday 7th June. On stage tonight were The Bench That Rocked, Deep Red Thread, Strike Up The Colours, Down Your Weapons, Drowning Grace and Corrupted Fate. Jonezy did the guest artist slot. Congratulations to Drowning Grace, The Bench That Rocked and Deep Red Thread who will be joining The Bobcats, Casino Empire and Goldstein in the Grand Final on June 7th
16th May
At The Shed, we saw Stoke On Trent band Dirty Rotten Souls and Loper and downstairs we saw Eradikator.
ON stage tonight at The Shed – Dirty Rotten Souls, Loper – and downstairs Eradicator, Piezo, Time Torn and Noise Abuse.
One of the bonuses of many nights at The Shed is that you get two gigs for the price of one. Tonight, there were bands upstairs and downstairs. On the main stage canonical rock and below a choice of metally hardcore. The good news is you get a choice. The bad news is you have to keep running between the stages hoping you don’t miss anything. Good practice for Download I guess.
Dirty Rotten Souls, a trio from Stoke On Trent, launched the evening with a belting set of powered rock songs. The three guys rocked out including a strongly voiced lead singer who knew how to played G-tar. They pumped out considerable waves of energy and ear-grabbing sounds. Stamping and thumping, they filled the room to the rafters with big, exciting rock noise, packing plenty of punch into their music. They were last here in 2012.
Loper, another threesome, featured a lead vocalist on guitar, a bassist who also did backing vocals and a drummer. These guys were associated with the well known band Nukeateen. Infectious beats drove the song with yelling vocals screaming out angry lyrics between melodic passages, the songs had plenty of passion and were not short on punch and attack. The lead singer writes the songs; he certainly did a good job of it. Theirs were all original songs and even though we had never heard them before they were recognisable. They were from a stable of rock music that was familiar. Three good musicians led by a singer with character.
Eradikator’s set was technically brilliant. The four-piece Birmingham band delivering a set that packed a superbly exhilarating punch. Two singers and a gold medal drummer gave us some ear-bleedingly loud music that was utterly spell-binding. The guitar playing was sensational. The songs were dramatic and laden with colour, force and electricity. They have played before at The shed and also at The Firebug. Mesmerising. I thought “book this band for your wedding reception – that will get your grannies grinding”.
Downstairs in the basement it was shit hot and the sound was squeezed into the confines of a small room; the crowd were loving that intimate gig setting and frenzied dancing broke out as the music swept people along. The bands playing downstairs tonight offered a rich fusion of punk, metal and hardcore, a head-splitting cocktail of blood-curdling sounds driven by rocket-fuelled rhythms and fired with wizard playing.
The Shed does many things for the Leicester music scene but one of them is that is provides an opportunity for people to listen to metal and hardcore – something not frequently offered by other venues (if at all.) Check out the bands:
Dirty Rotten Souls || Loper || Eradicator || Piezo || Time Torn || Noise Abuse
15 May
Music artist Jonezy performed at Embrace Arts for the University of Leicester Gospel Society.
An evening of very good music with songs from the gospel choir and Jonezy putting on a set of his rap songs.
12th May
A meeting of the Leicester Music Forum took place at The Exchange bar.
9th May
We were at The Shed to see Macca, Trip Hazard and Big Bad.
Macca, a solo singer, had a strong clear voice and solid and engaging lyrics.
Trip Hazard, from Liverpool, was a hit with their female lead vocalist Stef Stokes they gave an excellent performance. An impressive set of songs and an enjoyable sound.
Big Bad was an immediate hit with me because they opened their set with Boys of Summer, the club dance classic. This is a four-piece band that is really good at playing songs. Their rendition of Eye of the Tiger was particularly enjoyable.
5th May
We went to see The Bobcats, Preacher and the Bear and Joe Buck at The Musician.
Read our review of the Joe Buck show.
3rd May
We saw The World Can Wait at the Soundhouse.
We think that The World Can Wait is an up and coming new, young band that shows lots of promise. Their lead singer Sully Archer does a good job and has a fair degree of presence, backed by three competent musicians. The band’s songs are enjoyable and they are benefiting from increasing popularity. Their set includes covers alongside their own songs. When it comes to rock, they know how to do it. They are working hard, determined to make something of themselves and it seems to be paying off.
We went to the O2 Academy to see Axis Mundi and Tyler Mae.
For tonight’s set Axis Mundi performed their songs e-bomb, science junkie, rich & famous, what do you get, voodoo people (Prodigy), two instrumental numbers and finished with Fool.
On stage with them was Tyler Mae, whose heavy bass beats rumbled the room, delivering a set of drum and bass and rocked up dub step. They performed at StawberryFields festival in 2012, we saw them there for the first time and wrote ‘The five members of West Midlands band Tyler Mae were on stage with their two sets of drummers and two vocalists pacing around the stage as they sang. Synths brought out the sound of their edgy, adrenalin-pumping performance that was fizzed up with a good deal of flashy production lighting. They belted out some thrilling songs backed up by a scorching performance from the band members. I loved their raw, thrashy, electro rap. I read ‘dismissive to genre boundaries. It has become increasingly difficult to pin this band down to a certain sound, and they are quickly becoming renowned for it’. I can’t wait to see them again. In a word: yummy.’ [Arts in Leicester website]
Tonight Jonezy was at The Shed for the I Wanna Be A Rock Star heat, where he was the guest artist opening the show. On stage that night were The Arcadians, The Bobcats and Casino Empire, among others. Jonezy performed a full 30 minute set of numbers that contained complex beats; his backing track was one continuous track that played for the full set. He put on a razor-sharp performance and in the whole of that time he never missed a beat. His timing was impeccable and his stage craft spot-on.
At The Shed, Goldstein played. The trio had marshaled their fans to come to the front and dance. The band caught the mood of the night and made it work.
On other stages tonight – Formal Warning was at The Fake Festival. 8Miles High played at the OBS show at The Musician. The HandMade Festival was under way. Strange things happen in Leicester – you cannot predict which gigs are going to work and which will be non-starters. the Shed was full, the O2 empty and The Soundhouse had a comfortable attendance.
2nd, 3rd and 4th May
Handmade Festival
The Handmade Festival took place in Leicester; Keith Jobey was there.
1st May
Hardcore and metal at The Shed
Review coming soon – with Eyes n’ Nyes, Invictus, Internal conflict and Seven Deadly.
Eyes ‘n Nyes. Hardcore songs with adrenalin-fuelled beats. Guys on the stage working their instruments like a well-oiled machine. Lead vocalist Adam used to be in The Foundations and the bass-player was in CFP. Like a hugely powerful machine.
Invictus. One of the best hardcore bands in the city. Thrilling songs. Highly skilled guitar work. Visceral beats and pounding riffs. Very masculine music, machine-gun drumming, firing salvoes of bass-lines. Harsh, growling deep throated vocals, vigorous tribal songs all all tightly controlled, taut and intensely strenuous, with dazzling guitar passages. Within this genre, one of the most thrilling bands around right now.
Internal conflict. What can I say about this band that I have not said before … The intro from the PA exploded into the opening song with massively dramatic sounds and blood-curdling screams. Now, with a new lead vocalist, it was a set of hair-raising, explosive songs backed by scintilating guitar work, delivered at lightening speed. In the midst of this mayhem, moments of quiet emotion before they break into a thunderous wall of sound. Pulsing out huge throbbing beats, they proved themselves to be masters of sweeping statements as mountain peaks of sound reared up. They played the title track from their album ‘The Rising Tide’, in which rolling guitar lines leading into stunning flourishes of sound. As good to watch on stage as they are to listen to, they show how they have mastered the art of stage craft. This is, by any standards, playing of high quality. They poured out passionate music with a white-hot intensity. What they do is amazing; their music has considerable impact, driven by megawatts of energy. This is what makes hardcore metal mesmerising.
Seven Deadly back in Leicester. This band played in December 2012. Arts in Leicester magazine wrote:
Seven Deadly at the Soundhouse with Vengeance and Mandown
I don’t often go out to see a band I don’t know that happens to be playing in Leicester. But this band sent me a press release and invited me to go to the Soundhouse to interview them. Impressed by their initiative, I went to check out Seven Deadly and boy was I glad I went! Unusually for me, I saw them for the first time and absolutely loved them. They floated my boat with their compelling music and super stage performance, lead by front man Archie Wilson. Originally from Gravesend in Kent, they have been playing for just over a year, though some of the musicians had been in other bands (Panic Cell and Denounce), prior to joining this one. “Seven Deadly are only set to get BIGGER!” said Metal Hammer magazine, they brought out an EP The Allegiance in May and they were on stage at Download earlier this year and they have supported London heavy metallers Orange Goblin.
Back to tonight – After a resoundingly good intro, they took off, their lead singer … also playing an electronic gadget. He has considerable stage presence and soon had the audience fully engaged. The secret of this band’s success is that they live every moment of the music. Big, beltin’ rhythms and lashings of enthusiasm. Said “thanks to all the bands who have played before us, they were all fucking great.”
For the first time tonight, the crowd gathered in front of the stage. The band has an album coming out in February.
See tonight’s bands on Facebook:
Eyes n’ Nyes || Invictus || Internal conflict || Seven Deadly
See also:
News about this year’s music festivals
Joel Owen and The Antoine Band at The Musician
The World Can Wait and the young bands night at the Shed
Feature article on Neon Sarcastic
Comments now closed.