In the summer of 2014, the Levellers issued a comprehensive greatest hits package, bringing together almost all of their single releases and promo videos in one place. Following a few festival shows, the band’s full tour staged at the end of the year was to be a celebration those hits to date. Tours often gain that certain something extra after a few shows, but right from this first night in a provincial theatre on the Kent coast, it’s clear from about three songs into their ninety minute set that Brighton’s favourite sons are on fine form.
Category Archives: Gig Reviews
REAL GONE GOES OUT: Winger – Islington Academy, London 21/06/2014
Winger have had more than their share of knockers in the past. In the early 90s they were blasted on an almost weekly basis by cartoon misfits Beavis & Butt-head; members of high profile rock bands weren’t any kinder with their childish jibes, while the music press were often too quick to write them off in the face of a changing musical tide. Such things surely would have hurt, but it doesn’t change the fact that the first three Winger albums are top-notch melodic rock affairs – albums that have aged better than those of some of their peers. Nor does it change the fact that Winger were – and still are – a superb live act.
REAL GONE GOES OUT: Dan Reed Network – Islington Academy, London 10/06/2014
In their original lifespan, the Dan Reed Network left the world three albums of superb funk rock. Poppy yet sophisticated, the band’s best work – though very of the period in which it was conceived – remains much loved by their cult of fans. During those seven years, the band also released a string of should’ve been hit singles, though rarely troubled the charts. Why DRN never really made it past cult status is a mystery – a multiracial act with a magazine-friendly image; backing from a major label; a tour with The Rolling Stones…surely they should’ve had the world on a plate. Most importantly, though, they had those songs: so accessible, so hooky and yet so overlooked. Following their split in 1993, frontman Dan Reed ventured into with acting, appearing in a Red Shoes Diaries production and a couple of other things (including a self-written movie named ‘ZigZag’, which may or may not have started life as a project called ‘The Ocean’) and also owned a nightclub. He dabbled with music, too, recording an album with Adrenaline Sky – including members of defunct funk-rock band Maggie’s Dream – and later released solo works, though nothing quite hit the heights of the Network’s peak.
REAL GONE GOES OUT: ALL – Islington Academy, London 28/04/14
Live shows in the UK by punk legends Descendents are a rarity and appearances by their sister band ALL even rarer. With that in mind, this – ALL’s only UK show in 2014 and their first since forever – seemed like a visit from punk rock royalty. Over the course of almost a quarter-century between 1988 and 2000, the on-again, off-again band recorded some great albums, with 1993’s ‘Breaking Things’ and 1998’s ‘Mass Nerder’ being just as essential in any collection as the Descendents’ seminal ‘Milo Goes To College’, and 1990’s ‘Allroy Saves’ standing as a good example of their more angular, playful and arty styles. A support slot from UK punk stalwarts Snuff only heightened the idea that this one-off gig shouldn’t be missed.
REAL GONE GOES OUT: Lamb of God – Brixton Academy, London 18/01/2014
After Randy Blythe was arrested on a charge of manslaughter in the Czech Republic in June 2012, the future of Lamb of God was uncertain. If found guilty, it would put the band on hold for approximately a decade – and given that their 2011 release ‘Resolution’ placed the band further into the big league, the timing could not be more unfortunate. Understandably, given the good news of his innocence – a decision reached in March 2013 – the band’s first return to the UK just under a year later is cause for celebration; their show at London’s Brixton Academy is, unsurprisingly, a sell-out.