Very nice words. 

Looking forward to Sacred Reich at The Underworld Camden on Tuesday - you coming down for this Patrick?

2023
Fri 31st March
STEWART LEE, Salford Lowry ****
Thu 27th April
JOHN HEGLEY, Halifax Square Chapel ****
Thu 18th May
SIMON MUNNERY, Leeds The Old Woollen ***
Thu 25th May
RICKY GERVAIS, Leeds First Direct Arena ***
Sun 18th June
YES, Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Tue 20th June
MUSE / ROYAL BLOOD, Huddersfield John Smith's Stadium ****
Wed 28th June
IRON MAIDEN, Leeds First Direct Arena ****
Sat 8th July
JAMES, Halifax Piece Hall ***
Fri 27th Oct
PAUL FOOT, Bradford Alhambra Studios
Sat 11th Nov
THE SAW DOCTORS, Leeds O2 Academy
Sat 25th Nov
FM / DARE, Holmfirth Picturedrome

2024
Thu 18th Apr
STEWART LEE, Bradford St George's Hall
Wed 22nd May
RICHARD MARX, London Royal Albert Hall
Thu 23rd May
YES, Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Sat 31st Aug
BRAVADO, Sheffield City Hall

Quote from: The Letter R on August 04, 2023, 04:24:43 PMLooking forward to Sacred Reich at The Underworld Camden on Tuesday - you coming down for this Patrick?

Wasnt in the country so missed this. Bit disappointed

2023
1 Feb. Von Hertzen Brothers, Night & Day, Manchester
3 Feb. Epica/Apocalyptica, Academy, Manchester
11 Feb. StillMarillion, Live Rooms, Chester
18 Feb. Marisa and the Moths, Factory 251, Manchester
3 Mar. Heartbreak - the Tom Petty Show, St Bride's,  Liverpool
8 Mar. Ana Popovic, Live Rooms, Chester
9 Mar. Elles Bailey, O2 Academy 2, Liverpool
1 Apr. Mostly Autumn, the Wharf, Tavistock
5 Apr. The Damned, O2 Academy, Liverpool
14 Apr. Hushtones, Philharmonic Music Room, Liverpool
15 Apr. Straighten Out, Tivoli, Buckley
22 Apr. Riverside, Academy 2, Manchester
23 Apr. Space Elevator, Eleven, Stoke
28 Apr. Hawkwind, Academy, Manchester
26 May. When Rivers Meet, Nightrain, Bradford
9 Jun. The Blackheart Orchestra/John Hackett Band, Zanzibar, Liverpool
10 Jun. Roger Waters, AO Arena, Manchester
11 Jun  Mostly Autumn, Robin, Bilston
16 Jun. The Blackheart Orchestra, Sacred Trinity Church,  Salford
18 Jun. Heaven 17, Tivoli, Buckley
20 Jun. Muse, John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield
22 Jun. Geoff Tate's Operation Mindcrime, Tivoli, Buckley
23 Jun. Peter Gabriel,  AO Arena, Manchester
29 Jun. Porcupine Tree, Castlefield Bowl, Manchester
1 Jul. Zio, Jimmy's, Liverpool
5 Jul. The Mission/The Cult, Piece Hall, Halifax
5 Aug. IO Earth, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham
18 Aug. Franck Carducci, Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton
30 Aug. Mike Tramp, Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool
2 Sep. Wishbone Ash, Live Rooms, Chester
8 Sep. Rosalie Cunningham, the Ferret, Preston
10 Sep. Rosalie Cunningham, Night and Day, Manchester
12 Sep. Rosalie Cunningham, Old Woollen, Leeds
15 Sep. Brave Rival, Academy 3, Manchester
16 Sep. PiL, Tivoli, Buckley
21 Sep. The Anchoress, Leaf, Liverpool
29 Sep. Muse, AO Arena, Manchester
6 Oct. Karnataka, Live Rooms, Chester
8 Oct. Eliana Cargnelutti, Waterloo Music Bar,  Blackpool
11 Oct. KK's Priest, Ritz, Manchester
14 Oct. Hayley Griffiths Band, Citadel, St Helens
28 Oct. Brave Rival (Blues Festival), Atkinson, Southport
29 Oct. Glenn Hughes, Academy 2, Manchester
10 Nov. Death Cult, Mountford Hall, Liverpool
17 Nov. Mostly Autumn, Tivoli, Buckley
26 Nov. Mostly Autumn, the Met, Bury
27 Nov. Uli Jon Roth, Canvas, Manchester
28 Nov. Michael Schenker Group, Ritz, Manchester
2 Dec. Living Colour, Tivoli, Buckley
10 Dec. Mostly Autumn, Crescent, York

Off to see the unfeasibly talented Rosalie Cunningham for the second time this weekend tonight, at Night and Day in Mancunia

This is the first week of an extensive nationwide tour and I can't recommend her highly enough, so get yourselves down there for a musical and visual treat 👌🏻

I first saw her in her old band Purson who were excellent too, her new band are so tight and rock out spectacularly

There's a good reason she was mentored by George Martin, she's a cracking singer/guitarist/writer/bandleader - her music is a heady mix of psychedelia/prog/folk/hard rock

Quote from: Ali on September 10, 2023, 01:12:32 PMOff to see the unfeasibly talented Rosalie Cunningham for the second time this weekend tonight, at Night and Day in Mancunia

This is the first week of an extensive nationwide tour and I can't recommend her highly enough, so get yourselves down there for a musical and visual treat 👌🏻

I first saw her in her old band Purson who were excellent too, her new band are so tight and rock out spectacularly

There's a good reason she was mentored by George Martin, she's a cracking singer/guitarist/writer/bandleader - her music is a heady mix of psychedelia/prog/folk/hard rock

I forgot she played in Sheffield on Tuesday. Got my dates all wrong

Quote from: Ali on September 10, 2023, 01:12:32 PMOff to see the unfeasibly talented Rosalie Cunningham for the second time this weekend tonight, at Night and Day in Mancunia

This is the first week of an extensive nationwide tour and I can't recommend her highly enough, so get yourselves down there for a musical and visual treat 👌🏻

I first saw her in her old band Purson who were excellent too, her new band are so tight and rock out spectacularly

There's a good reason she was mentored by George Martin, she's a cracking singer/guitarist/writer/bandleader - her music is a heady mix of psychedelia/prog/folk/hard rock

She's playing in Oxford on Thursday. Tempted but depends on how I have recovered from a day at the cricket, tomorrow, with Bez and looking after our Granddaughter, Thursday daytime!

I did buy one of her albums a couple of years ago after hearing her on Marc Riley's show. Good stuff. Not played it for a long time though.

Actually shot over to the Old Woollen in Farsley near Leeds last night after work, three times in five days...yes, she's that good 👌🏻

I've uploaded a video of Ride On My Bike from the show on YouTube, if you care to check it out 😉

Ayreon tonight in Tilburg, doing the complete 01101001 album with a huge cast of musicians. Looking forward to that one!

Having not been there in person the last few times Arjen Lucassen did his Ayreon stints (but having seen the impeccable live registrations) I wanted to be there myself this time. Everything leading up to these 5 shows (that started out as 3 if I recall correctly - they added matinee shows to meet demand and even sold selected tickets for the dress rehearsal) promised a spectacle.
Meeting expectations is difficult under any circumstances, but considering the logistics of this particular undertaking, near impossible. So, were the expectations met?

YES. they were. his was a near flawless show with a revolving cast of singers and musicians doing their best to relive the Ayreon 01011001 album. Yes it's a concept thing (all of Ayreon's albums are) but that did not get in the way to what we got to see and hear. The stage set was designed to create a space for everyone, scaffolding holding different levels, ensured no one got in each others way and was able to move (or not) around within their confined space. 8 different musicians, each ot the top of their game and a slew of top vocalists made this the spectacle it deserves to be.
I won't go into details on the music itself, you either know & like Ayreon's music or you don't and need to listen and pass judgement yourself, but suffice to say that vocal presentations were the stars of the night.
Whether it is Anneke van Giersbergen (the Queen bee for sure here), Britanny Slayes (Hayes - of Unleash the Archers fame) being tasked with trying to do Floor Jansen's vocal parts) or the always delivering Damian Wilson, Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian), Dutch top Singer John Cuijpers, Daniel Gildenlow (!) of Pain of Salvation fame and (personal favourite) Jonas Renske (Goth demi god and vocalist for Katatonia), all of them and more (too many to mention) performed fantastic.

The album itself runs for about 105 mins, so it's a long stand (no seats available, standing room only for 3000 attendants) qith many highlights and Lucassen himself singing 2 songs (for which he apologises but he is a fun vocalist with a pleasant voice) before the main man and his sidekick (keyboardist / producer Joost van den Broek) launch into a short but fun thank you ("I am a recluse, I neve go out, well except for walking the dog so I make you come to me") to the people that have travelled from over 50 countries to see this thing, just to close with 3 more tracks (one from Transitus - a not so fantastic recent outing) with Simone Simons (of Epica) on vocals, (my favourite) Fate of Men (from Lucassen's 'metal' project Star One) and The Day that the World Breaks Down (from 2017's The Source).

Other than the fact it was very crowded and the merch sold out so quickly I was not even able to grab a Tee, this was a superb concert evening. Looking foreard to the blue ray / LP release!

*one note: I have been going to concerts for what, 35 - 40 years now, and there is a certain etiquette when you are standing on the floor. Every one here knows: you let people pass, you do not stand still and block views just because you can and you maintain a friendly posture. The 'we're all in this together' kind of vibe. The only times I found this not be the case were the more mainstream concerts (Guns 'n' Roses comes to mind, a field full of drunken idiots), but I felt that memo did not land well last night. Maybe it was the mix of nationalities or the fact there were a lot of grumpy inexperienced concert goers, but yoy do not try and block someone from wanting to leave their spot. Luckily I am not one that is easily intimidated and a little push of the knee will get you through just about any barrier.

It's just one clip, but it displays quite well the musicianship last night. It's not everyone's cup of tea, I know..

That Ayreon concert looked immense. I don't mind a bit of Ayreon myself. I was hooked on The Human Equation for a while and had it on loop driving to and from work for weeks. I've seen the DVD of that and it looked great. A nice write-up too, thanks.