FONTAINES DC

“ROMANCE” LAUNCH @ LIVERPOOL’S CONTENT

Launch of Album of the Year >>ROMANCE<<

Thank you Theo Cottle for the snap x

QOTSA

Last month Rockculture® was fortunate enough to witness Queens of the Stone Age’s “comeback”, or at least their second show in three years at Boston Calling on 28 May.

The band debuted their new song ‘Negative Space’, a track which appears on their new album In Times New Roman, released today, 16 June.

In Times New Roman was recorded at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La and at Josh Homme’s Pink Duck Studios. Their single ‘Negative Space’ is the second song to be heard from the new album and follows ‘Emotion Sickness’, their first single.

The album channels a Josh Homme much more in tune with his inner self, I find. He wrote the new tracks in a “self-imposed exile” and the growth which can come from losing people closest to you is ubiquitous in every new song.

We can’t wait to see how their upcoming tours go – we will be at the show in Frankfurt (at the very minimum).

TRAVELING & GIGS

“When I was a young boy”, no, kidding. It starts and ends with lyrics.

I was considering scrapping ‘Rockculture’ altogether because I’m not allowed to write up the gigs I’m contracted to report on for other outlets, and I am often too lazy to report on the gigs I go to for pleasure.

But as ROCKCULTURE is no more and no less than a personal blog, which some of you may enjoy reading, I shall continue to write. It is what I do.

I find concerts post-Covid WEIRD. Gigs are my happy place but being surrounded by sweaty, music-loving peers doesn’t feel the same anymore.

After attending four gigs in five days during the summer of 2022 – Pearl Jam, Iggy Pop, Jerry Cantrell, Nick Cave – I came down with you-know-what.

I got back in the saddle in time for Hyde Park BST, seeing Pearl Jam (again, because once is not enough, musical geniuses they are, different set and contagious positive energy) and Duran Duran.

I’d waited 40 years to see Duran Duran, and, man, what a disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong. Nick Rhodes is still the artistic mastermind behind it all, but I could have just watched a video and listened to a record. The press seemed to think it was fabulous. It was not. It was beautiful to SEE, but not to listen to. And the audience was an entitled Ibiza crowd who have too much money and no manners. Late 50-year-olds seriously thinking they still have a chance to bed John Taylor. Ew.   

Nothing mattered to me this year, other than finally seeing Duran Duran, going to as many Pearl Jam gigs as possible, and then going to the Taylor Hawkins tribute in London, maybe even the one in LA.

If you know me, you know how PERSISTANT I can be. Hence, I eventually got tickets to see the Foo Fighters at Wembley.

I cried for the duration of the concert. So did Dave Grohl.

The concert wasn’t perfectly choreographed, but that was fine. A lot of healing was done. Still, Taylor Hawkins’s death will forever leave a gaping hole in music.

Fast forward to the Kia Forum tribute. Thanks to a special friend, I was able to attend.

This time, no crying. Just admiration. Admiration of artists I formerly looked down upon. Because who knew that Miley Cyrus has one of the fiercest voices I’ve ever heard; Taylor Momsen, more than a pretty face. Both women literally blew me away. In combination with P!NK, Alanis Morissette, and Joan Jett, I would like to think that women ruled this tribute. So empowering, but also so healing.

Speaking of powerful women: Grace Jones at the Hollywood Bowl. Another force of nature. How is it possible for a 74-year-old woman to perform that kind of show? Don’t say drugs (because everyone around me tells me she is fueled by drugs – if she did the amount of drugs, they all said she does, she’d be dead, not hulla-ing for fifteen minutes straight). I’m a bit jealous to be fair, also, because her son is her keyboarder. I wonder if I can be in my son’s band. I could play the triangle.

Was also lucky enough to go to see Bring Me the Horizon in LA, who reeled their energy back to their original hard core; nice touch to bring in Bryan Garris (Knocked Loose) for Diamonds Aren’t Forever.

My musical taste is broader than I imagined, by the way. Why? Because when rushing to the Hollywood Bowl for yet another concert, the Pet Shop Boys were already on stage, and I sang and smiled for the duration of their set. Music connects, and it doesn’t have to be metal.

Musically, the co-headliner New Order, were not as smooth as one would have hoped. But the tunes still ring true, and their music and lyrics are a source of infinite joy.

And last, but not least, this emo girl decided to see My Chemical Romance for the first time in her life.

When people reckon “EMO” is a new thing – I will enlighten you. It is not. Every song has lyrics you can find meaning to. The emos of now are no different from the emos back in the day. It is as I have always said, “LYRICS MATTER”.

Gerard Way understands the depth of my soul, just like Andrew Eldritch did 35 years ago. All you have to do is listen. And go to gigs.

Dave Grohl @ Kia Forum (Rockculture®)

Miley Cyrus - photo by ROCKCULTURE®

Young Boy Gerard Way / My Chemical Romance - photo by ROCKCULTURE®

GARY NUMAN @ Batschkapp 17.06.2022

I skipped school for my first Gary Numan concert back in 1984. It was a time I needed to escape from a dysfunctional home, and I traveled all the way to London from Germany to connect with an alternative family made up from creative types. Gary Numan was one of those types, though I dare say he has grown into a performer who knows how to captivate the audience not just by his music these days, but by working the stage as if he’s had Stanislavski training for decades.

Tonight, he traveled to Frankfurt and I don’t have to skip school or work to see him.

Whilst the support I Speak Machine – a unique performer who channels Siouxie and Nine Inch Nails but makes it her own - is already getting the audience hyped for Gary Numan, the guy standing next to me whispers to his girlfriend, “Oh, Gary Numan is the guy who inspired Depeche Mode.” The same guy who said that before the show concluded after, “Bloody hell, that was more like Rammstein.”

INTRUDER TOUR 2022

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INTRUDER TOUR 2022 〰️

Richard Beasley takes his seat behind his drum kit opposite of David Brooks on keys, whilst the two imposing behemoths Steve Harris on guitar and Tim Slade on bass take stage. They guard Gary Numan, as he struts on stage brimming with a confidence he certainly didn’t have when I saw him 38 years ago.

 

Although Gary Numan was ill a few days ago, he delivers ‘Intruder’ with conviction and as the Steve and Tim sway and freak the audience out a little with their goth/android stance, the crowd are already under Numan’s spell.

He delivers ‘Halo’ from the album ‘Jagged’, dancing, swaying his arms as only Numan can.

After ‘Metal’, the percussion heavy ‘The Gift’ makes the stage and audience pulsate. Numan’s make-up, still the black eye shadow rings, the three red streaks, are highlighted by clever lighting and his perfected stage performance bring together an almost dystopian event.

It is apparent to the “new” Gary Numan fans at the Batschkapp, that he is the one who is behind all the ideas Marilyn Manson has ever come up with and as Numan prowls the stage, the feeling has become one of devotion to the man who now grabs the microphone to deliver the honest song ‘Is the World Not Enough’ from 2021’s Intruder.

‘Pure’ is not just this performance, but the song after ‘Films’ – Numan holds his Les Paul like he is going to strangle it before succumbing to heavy riffs and powerful vocals. This show is pure theatre.

‘Resurrection’ seques into ‘Down in The Park’ and Numan once again uses every inch of the stage to dance and fill the space with his moves.

The synths give away his most popular song in Germany ‘Cars’, but the delivery tonight is heavier and more energetic than expected. Numan plays his keyboard whilst the rest of the band navigate through the instrumental parts of the songs and the crowd are loving every minute. Even if there may have been people in the audience who only know him for that one song, they would have had a different experience altogether, listening to tonight’s version.

As a heavy beat erupts, the mood goes even darker with the next song ‘My Name Is Ruin’. If you hadn’t felt the goth feeling in the Batschkapp so far, you had now.

The next song has every phone in front of my face, trying to capture the lighting which erupt for ‘The Chosen’. Numan dances like he’s only just entered the stage – his movements careless and smooth.

The last song of the show is ‘A Prayer for the Unborn’ from 2000’s album Pure. Numan carries his guitar as if it was a gun, then swishes it on his back and does his flying bird arm thing. Steve Harris and Tim Slade look more aggressive and the guitarist spits into the crowd. Was it the flying bird thing that made him want to spread his avian coodies? Who knows?

The Encore starts off with ‘Here in the Black’ and finishes with the iconic ‘Are Friends Electric’. Although this was his breakthrough hit, it is more than that now. It is a mantra for everyone that ever listened, anyone who ever took his innovation and made it their own, from Trent Reznor to Marilyn Manson, from Dave Grohl to Gaga.

And even though I may have a nightmare or two because of the skirted giants (only because one of Sith Lord’s skirts showed his skinny long legs, not because of the freaky faces they pulled), this was the best gig I’ve been lucky enough to see in a long time. Not ever, because that would be a lie, but a long time.

 

Angle Grinder versus Justin Sullivan

Forget playing next to a zoo, like Justin Sullivan did in Nürnberg a few days prior to today. He was confronted by peacocks and seals at that venue. Frankfurt gave him the welcome which epitomised the bias of “German efficiency”- workmen using their angle grinders on a Friday night to try and finish a build which has been lagging for months. 

Not enough heartache for Batschkapp to deal with the pandemic, no, they also have the pleasure of having this never-ending construction site next to their very well built Sommergarten. Also quite German was the welcome, a bit timid as he opened his acoustic set with ‘Maps’, a New Model Army song. 

With every song Justin connected more with his audience who were maybe timid only for the reason that this must have been the first concert in a long time for all of us.

Although written during the beginning of the Covid pandemic, Justin Sullivan has focused on other worldly topics on his latest solo album ‘Surrounded’, though of course the narrow-mindedness of his own countrymen is reflected in so many of his lyrics. 

The crowd warm up to his solo single ‘Amundsen’ and when he gets to the New Model Army song ‘Over the Wire’ he cannot contain his anti-Brexit and anti-nationalism feelings any longer. As I once said in my interview with Justin a few years ago (see Interviews), he knew and called out the state of British society decades ago. On a side note- what is true for them, is true for us. “We, as humans, are so small and insignificant in the entirety of it all.”

Closing the set with ‘Snelsmore Wood’, Justin promised he’d be back “whenever he is back” with the whole band. Justin Sullivan delivered a solo concert which eased us all back into what the future holds: Live Music, hopefully without bells and whistles, without angle grinders in the background and hopefully without having to worry about getting sick. Thank you Batschkapp and thank you Justin Sullivan for taking us that one step further to the new normal.

Justin Sullivan @ Batschkapp 17.09.2021

Justin Sullivan @ Batschkapp 17.09.2021

THE DAMNED, Batschkapp, 17.05.2018

They have certainly come a long way since opening for another punk band back in 1976, further yet from that one show at Eric’s in Liverpool back in 1977. Cannot remember there being any intro by Gustav Holt, but this just adds to The Damned’s drama and suspense without being pretentious. What awaits us is an honest and fun gig,

Enter the most underrated guitarist and founder of The Damend Captain Sensible, the never aging Dave Vanian on vocals, and the rest of The Damned, including the epic Monty Oxymoron on keyboards.

Vanian’s looks aren’t the only thing which remain unchanged, his vocals are sonorous to put it swooningly mildly.

Whether it is songs taken from their “Damned Damned Damned” album or their latest release “Evil Spirits”, the Batschkapp audience do themselves and their entertainers proud. They chant along to old favourites like “Street of Dreams” and cannot but regress to “Love Song” and “I Just Cannot be Happy Today”.

Admittingly The Damned’s new material from their album “Evil Spirits” takes their music back to their glam roots and sounds decent recorded, but songs like “Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow” sound absolutely epic live, in fact the new material underlines Captain Sensible’s incredible talent as a musician.

No one was expecting Oxymoron’s dance moves, but they added to the authenticity of a band who love what they do and don’t give a damn (sorry, I am not even old enough for puns like that.)

The only disappointment was their odd version of “Eloise”. The melodramatic goth era is obviously not popular with the band anymore, but sadly missed by yours truly. The moshing to the closing song “Smash It Up” did not make up for “Eloise” and I hope and pray they will rectify it for the gig in Amsterdam next week. I will let you know.

 

Words: Nicole Smith

Photos: Lewis Lenk for ROCKCULTURE®

Foo Fighters @ The Anthem, Washington D.C.

So apparently, The Anthem is THE new rock club of the East Coast. It is not just a rock club, my friends, it is a concert hall with the most epic acoustics, the most beautiful design, but with a feel of a cosy rock club, holding anywhere between 2.500 and 6.000 music lovers. It sits on the redeveloped Wharf on Washington’s Southwest Waterfront and has been developed by no other than Seth Hurwitz, the legend behind D.C.’s other epic venue 9:30.

So, who would you want to open up such a venue? You would probably want a local hero and there happens to be this one guy who played his first ever gig in D.C. at 16 years of age. His name is Dave Grohl and his current band is of course the Foo Fighters.

The initial warm up gig for “Friends & Family” on Wednesday goes down like a storm, but the official opening night on Thursday is by far the longest show the Foos may have ever played. 2 ¾ hours of Foo Fighters, reminiscing about his days on the wharf eating jumbo crabs on the waterfront, listening to the local radio stations and mostly importantly playing a huge range of songs from “I’ll Stick Around” to “The Pretender”, all along teasing the audience with a universal question these days “Is rock’n’roll dead?”. Not if the Foo Fighters have anything to say about it and to prove this phenomenon not only have they enlisted three drop dead gorgeous backing vocalists for some of their new stuff from “Concrete and Gold”, they also ask The Anthem guy himself, Seth Hurwitz, to come and play drums on the Rolling Stones cover “Bitch”, giving the epic Taylor Hawkins a little more limelight in the process.

The gig without a curfew ended with “Everlong” and it doesn’t matter how often you have heard or seen this song- smiles and goosebumps all around in this epic new venue, The Anthem.

WHILE SHE SLEEPS/NORTHLANE/NOVELISTS/SHVPES @ COLOS SAAL, Aschaffenburg

The second the doors open to the Colos Saal in Aschaffenburg, it is apparent that tonight will be one sweaty moshfest - both bands and audience are in for a treat tonight. Four of metal’s most anticipated artists playing to a sold out German crowd. And it’s not like these bands aren’t energetic either; the bands match the intensity of the crowds movement and chaos ensues.

Opening with SHVPES, it is apparent that the Birmingham five-piece have learnt a lot from their time on the road with metal giants. Their stage presence seems to be maybe the strongest of the night and the crowd get into it rapidly, regardless if they can pronounce the band's name or not. Needless to say the mixture of groove and melody is reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine or Limp Bizkit. Two Minutes of Hate proves to be the crowd favorite and the bands set seems too short for satisfaction.

Novelists follow, similarly they find themselves facing a crowd, many of which are unfamiliar with them but smash it anyways. Again there is no lack of stage for presence despite their musical complexity. Vocals, drums, bass and guitars seem as tight as one can expect from the French quintet and this skill does not go unnoticed by the crowd. It is however fair to say that the crowd does not get into it as heavily as with SHVPES; possibly due to the mere admiration. Nevertheless, this performance is more than eye opening.

The stage is then cleared for the arrival of Australian Djent Djiants, Northlane. It is clear that every almost every little aspect of the bands performance has been refined, rehearsed and perfected. The band’s clarity is unreal and despite whether you like Northlane or not, their live performance is satisfying to listen to. The intense heat in the room heightens as the mosh pits spread wider than ever before until practically the whole is moving. Any metalheads natural instinct when hearing live music as chuggy as this, is to move. But the band feed off of this crowd energy and it is fair to say that they top all previous stage presence from both support bands, and that's saying something. Even injured bassist Alex Milovic bangs his head hard enough to have caused further damage to himself. Guitarists Jon Deiley and Josh Smith also get into it but still play as flawlessly as ever. Nic Pettersen doesn’t miss a beat either and conjures that signature Northlane groove that only he can. But despite all the instrumental perfection of tonight's performance, Marcus Bridge certainly stands out above the rest. Effortlessly nailing tunes like Solar and Quantum Flux is something that most can only dream of doing. The only criticism anyone can have is that the set was WAY too short.

The end of their set leaves the audience wanting more, but what follows is much more than anyone could have expected. The self-release of latest album, You Are We has only sparked the beginning of something extremely special for Sheffield’s finest. While She Sleeps, although being extremely loved in Germany, would have smashed it anywhere; regardless of the blaring heat inside the 600 cap. venue, the performance from the first scream of “You are We” is epic. It is a beautiful mixture of signature upbeat, huge n’ heavy riffs in Brainwashed and Civil Isolation, to melodic guitars in Silence Speaks, Hurricane and Seven Hills, and the epic sing alongs of You Are We, Four Walls and Feel. Sean Long and Mat Welsh outdo themselves vocally and instrumentally whilst Aaran Mckenzie hypes up the crowd even more and also does his fair share of background singing. Adam Savage provides the backbone of the entire set as well as the best sounding drumming of the night. Loz Taylor, doesn’t only provide the humor of the set, but also the intensity springing into the crowd on numerous occasions. Despite insane stage antics, it is clear to see that his vocal performance has become extremely solid as well and his speaking provides a personal connection between the band and the audience. This connection is best seen during the last song of the set, Hurricane. If anyone had any doubts that every single person in the room was off their feet and/or singing, these last moments of the show surely proved them wrong. Mat Welsh enjoys a brief final jump into the crowd before the song ends and the set comes to a close. Despite the crowds plea for more, the show is over.

And one thing is for certain- While She Sleeps will never release anything independently again, so long as they have fans like these standing behind them.

 

Text: Nicole Smith/ Photos: Artun Otter

NORTHLANE

NORTHLANE

WHILE SHE SLEEPS

WHILE SHE SLEEPS

YOU ME AT SIX * Schlachthof, Wiesbaden* 12.03.2017

You me at Six - a five-some from Surrey who have been playing progressively larger venues over the years and toured numerous chart topping records to much acclaim worldwide. Germany however, has not seen much of them and hasn’t necessarily been their favourite place to play either. That explains why their return today, seems to have sparked great excitement in the German fans who have been waiting patiently on this very moment.

Opening their show at Schlachthof with the title track of their new album “Night People”, the audience are immediately enticed to join in with their new, carefully developed alternative rock sound, which they have been working towards for the past nine years. Wanting to become a bit grungier, whilst retaining their own sound, they once again used the expertise of producer Jacquire King (Kings of Leon) to guarantee that sound on their new album, which has been torn to pieces by the German press as lame copies of Snow Patrol and a mediocre follow up to their first #1 UK album “Cavalier Youth” in 2014.

But the critics are wrong. “Night People” is an album, which needs to be played on stage to appreciate the evolution of You me at Six.

Josh Franceschi’s lyrics are not that different to what we are used to, his presentation at this gig however reminded us of a teenage heartthrob who is trying to show he can do what a recent Alex Turner or a young Eddie Vedder can. His vocals are by far the best they have been in years- “Stay with Me”, presented with a strong harmony for a change - and when Josh gets a little weary, what better to let the audience do the singing for you. “Bite My Tongue” follows in a similar fashion.

Max Helyer and Chris Miller on guitars kept the rock’n’roll riffs clean and tidy, absolutely loved the bass – Matt Barnes-, no idea why it stood out, but it did. Musically YMAS have moved on in a good way and though I get the feeling all was not perfectly rehearsed, they did good.

The audience jump, sing, join in without being encouraged and perhaps it was this enthusiastic crowd at Schlachthof that Franceschi had to admit that the Germans had more to offer other than Özil and Mertesacker (due to Arsenal’s shockingly awful current form). The introduction of “Take on the World” takes on a more emotional touch as very serious subjects are addressed, like the refugee crisis. Franceschi adds how extremely grateful he is for the German kindness and all round attitude to it. Should bands be politically open? No, but they should show compassion and empathy. You me at Six did so both lyrically and by gesture. Nice one.

WE BUTTER THE BREAD WITH BUTTER, Zoom, Frankfurt

WBTBWB, Zoom, Frankfurt – 26 November 2015

 

What started out seven years ago as a project by Marcel Neumann, guitar, and Tobias Schultka, with them printing and publishing their first album „Das Monster aus dem Schrank“ in their uni break, has grown into a band who love performing. They have played festivals and have supported bands like A Day to Remember, but currently are on their German club tour promoting their fifth album „Wieder Geil“.

 

After several changes to the line up, Tobias Schultka left a few years back, the newbie Axel Goldmann, bass, adds to the dynamic of this foursome; I am not sure how seriously Marcel was about this band he started, but he is certainly one of the most underrated guitarist out there.

 

You can criticise We Butter the Bread With Butter all you want for playing unorthodox death metal, a term the singer Paul Bartzsch refers to tongue in cheek, but I would go as far as saying they have created a unique sound for themselves. Performing infront of perhaps 200 people at the most random club, they enjoy what they do and play some of their baby step songs like WOW to their always loved nursery rhymes and their newer stuff like Exorzist. 90 minutes of pure, unadultered fun. 

PVRIS, LKA Longhorn, Stuttgart

 

Having to perform after the powerful Beartooth performance and ahead of the much-anticipated Bring Me the Horizon show, Lynn Gunnulfsen’s nerves are palpable. Alex Babinski, lead guitar, and Brian Mac Donald, bass/keyboards, stand by their front woman unphased and clearly enjoy the buzz of the German crowd.

 

The Stuttgarters here have welcomed Gunn who reminds you of a deer caught in the headlines until she starts playing and singing. And sing she can. Every single hesitation she might have felt, are blown away – literally- by every powerful chord. “White Noise” and “Fire”, immaculate productions, leaving one to wonder if this Massachusetts quartet can really pull this off without technical wonders, but they can and they do. Justin Nace on drums powers through and all other songs performed, “Mirrors”, “Holy” and “Smoke” are performed with such passion, I cannot help but be in awe of such talented musicians.

 

Closing the set with “My House”, the amazing Gunn shouts out to the crowd: “Whose house is this?”  It is hers. And Oli has shoes to fill. Big, big, vocal shoes to. 

Young Guns, House of Blues, Boston, USA

 

 

The Young Guns do not face an easy task taking on this patriotic crowd of Bostonians- they are are opening for Breaking Benjamin and the Red Sox are playing over the road at Fenway Stadium. These are only two of the challenges Gustav Wood and his band face tonight. But unphased, no, ecstatic, the Young Guns are pleased to be here, to perform to this music-loving, though at first apprehensive crowd.

Letting the audience know how privileged he is to be here, Gustav admits to being „an Englishman who doesn’t understand baseball anyway“ and instantly blows this crowd away with some of their newer songs from their album ‘Ones and Zeros’, including current single ‘Rising Up’, the chanted lyrics echoing all the way to Fenway.  The Muse like intro to ‘Daylight’ makes the females in the crowd all emotional, only to be thrown back into a really fun rock experience. The American audience is literally blown away by this Englishman and his energy, albeit they face another challenge tonight, as they are reduced to only four.  Simon Mitchell is replaced by a laptop, as the bassist is attending his sister’s wedding. But even when the bass track is lost for a few seconds, the four band members play their hearts out.

And that’s Young Guns for you in a nutshell. Brotherhood, love of music and at the same time humility: “Is this real? Boston- thank you so much!” Gustav shouts and closes the show with “Bones”. The audience go wild with frenzy. If they didn’t know the Young Guns before, they do now.   

Nx

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