Music / Previews
Metal/Prog Picks of the Month: August 2015
Marble Factory, Aug 5
is needed now More than ever
Few bands can claim to have had it all and then pissed it all away quite as comprehensively as Queensryche. With 1988’s brilliant Operation: Mindcrime and its more straightforward 1990 follow-up Empire, Seattle’s least grungey sons laid down the progressive metal template and were rewarded with massive sales and Grammy nominations. Then it all began to turn to shit with some terrible albums that nobody bought, eventually leading to an acrimonious split between singer Geoff Tate and the rest of the band, court battles and, yep, you guessed it, two rival Queensryches. Now the non-Tate version, fronted by former Crimson Glory fella Todd La Torre, have sole rights to the name and are attempting to recover lost ground with a return to the ‘classic’ Queensryche sound. New album Condition Human is out next month.
Still, even if you’re wary of ’em after so many disappointments, this is a great package with impressive first-generation California-based Filipino thrashers Death Angel. These guys aren’t as old as you might expect as they were unfeasibly young when they started out. Indeed, their then-drummer was just 14. An, ahem, ‘thrashumentary’ about ’em has just been released.
Exchange, Aug 20
Hurrah – British prog’s brightest young hopes have finally moved on from their annual Louisiana visit to play the Exchange. Yes, you can hear loads of Caravan, Soft Machine and even Hatfield and the North in what they do, but these guys are no slavish copyists and it’s safe to say that the Canterbury quartet’s younger followers will never have heard a note by the bands to whom they’re so frequently compared. They won a lot of fans touring the US with Yes and their big-name champions include David Crosby and Paul Weller. New album Sound Mirror is something of a corker too. Good job they didn’t stick with original band name Grumpy Jumper, mind.
Tunnels, Aug 21
Yes he’s technically a blueser, but Oli Brown’s rock band RavenEye were pretty damn impressive supporting Blues Pills at the Bierkeller earlier this year, so we’ll have him for this section. This ‘back to the roots’ tour sees the young guitarist returning to material from his early Open Road and Heads I Win, Tails You Lose albums, which won him shitloads of gongs at the British Blues Awards in 2010 and 2011 (Male Vocalist, Best Band, Best Album, Best Young Artist, etc). New songs are also promised.
Louisiana, Aug 25
Best known as one half of the prog-ambient duo No Man with Steven Wilson (key album: Schoolyard Ghosts), Tim Bowness is playing just two UK dates in support of Stupid Things That Mean the World, the follow-up to his acclaimed second solo album Abandoned Dancehall Dreams. Co-produced by Bruce Soord of Somerset’s very own Pineapple Thief, it’s another classy slice of melancholic, lush art-rock with guest appearances from Peter Hammill, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera and violinist Anna Phoebe, plus orchestrations by classical composer Andrew Keeling. For this show, he’ll be joined by the key musicians who played on the album, including Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin, Sanguine Hum’s Andrew Booker, and Stephen Bennett and Michael Bearpark of Henry Fool. If you needed any reminder of how much prog fans love their vinyl, Stupid Things . . . entered the UK vinyl album chart at number 10 last week.
Further ahead
Frustratingly, many gigs sell out well in advance. So if you’re planning ahead, here’s our definitive guide to the best classic rock, metal and prog shows on the horizon (including some annoying clashes). We’ll keep this updated every month.
Nile, Marble Factory, Sept 9
The Sword, Thekla, Sept 19
WASP, Marble Factory, Sept 22
Enslaved/Grand Magus, Marble Factory, Sept 23
Ugly Kid Joe, Marble Factory, Sept 24
The Wildhearts, Academy, Sept 24
Biters, Thekla, Sept 28
Leprous, Fleece, Oct 15
Cradle of Filth, Motion, Oct 17
Riverside, Marble Factory, Oct 21
Delain, Marble Factory, Oct 22
Carcass/Obituary/Voivod, Marble Factory, Oct 27
Focus, Tunnels, Oct 27
Dan Baird + Homemade Sin, Thunderbolt, Oct 28
Steve Hackett, Colston Hall, Oct 28
Leaves Eyes, Marble factory, Nov 4
Joe Satriani, Colston Hall, Nov 8
Epica/Eluveitie, Academy, Nov 11
Skindred, Academy, Nov 12
Kadavar, Marble Factory, Nov 12
Crobot/Scorpion Child, Exchange, Nov 15
Cherrie Currie, Bierkeller, Nov 16
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Fleece, Nov 18
Sepultura, Marble Factory, Nov 19
Clutch, Academy, Nov 25
Apocalyptica, Academy, Nov 29
The Zombies, Fleece, Dec 3
Fish, Academy, Dec 3
Orange Goblin, Bierkeller, Dec 4
Fear Factory, Motion, Dec 7
The Darkness, Academy, Dec 13
The Aristocrats, Bierkeller, Dec 17
Stackridge, Fiddlers, Dec 19
Steven Wilson, Colston Hall, Jan 26
Sabaton/Alestorm, Marble Factory, March 8
Yes, Colston Hall, May 4
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