"Could We Burn Darling?"

Hey would you look at that! You’re getting two posts in the space of a week! Aren’t you lucky that I like you guys so much?

That’s right I’m back with even more devilish insights for you, so let’s get down to it shall we?

Who? Fearless Vampire Killers

What? Unbreakable Hearts

Where? The Haunt, Brighton

Support: Myth City & Zoax

Back in October Fearless Vampire Killers announced a UK February tour, however had to reschedule the dates in order to support In This Moment. Originally the boys were set to play Brighton’s ‘Audio’ on Wednesday 8^th February, which was rearranged to ‘The Haunt’ on Thursday 21^st May. Honestly, it was such a suitable change. Not only do the two names get on like a house of fire, hear it a few times and you might get it…

Fearless Vampire Killer…The Haunt…

The Haunt…Fearless Vampire Killers…

Fearless Vampire Killers…The Haunt…

Got it? Good.

This has to be one of my favourite venues around, if you cast your minds back to December 2014, recall passed the candy canes and shiny paper. I sent you a little review about Rory Indiana playing in the same venue, for Red Kites EP Launch? Remember? You better do, I bang on about that band enough that you to have no choice but to pay attention!

Anyways, I have seen Fearless on three other occasions, twice as the support band and another on the 2013 Kerrang! Tour (the place I feel in love with them). And now I have finally managed to see them as the headliner they are. These boys are definitely made for the stage. There are certain things you expect from a band such as this, for instance musical theatricality, humility with awe and excitement. Watch them from a performance aspect it was evident that they couldn’t have been more genuine. The energy and rare intensity they emitted was contagious. Granted The Haunt wasn’t packed to capacity, but the audience they did have they treated like dear old friends.

To top it all the boys were lovely enough to come and meet all of their fans after the show. Something that a lot of musicians at their level would find tedious and demeaning. Yet is quite the opposite. This is a band, that despite popularity and talent, remember where they’ve come from, who they are and what they stand for. Just another reason that I find them such an inspiring band to watch and hear.

Their set couldn’t have been more perfect either. From old, personal favourites such as Bow Ties on Dead Guys to Could We Burn Darling? to the latest editions such as In Wondrous Rage, Maeyby and their classic All Hallows Evil. Kicking things off with Neon In The Dance Hall was completely appropriate as it manages to supper the tour name and new album Unbreakable Hearts as well as reigniting a crowd full of new and old faces. As well as letting the audience choose one of the songs, in this case Fetish for the Finite, the ultimate form of crowd participation. However the song that prominent for myself was when Kier and Luke captivated the audience on their own with Brave the Night. Kier’s performance and vocal delivery was utterly heart retching, supported by the haunting melody by the piano provided by Luke, who, as Kier appropriately announced “Not just a drummer everybody”. This song was so mesmerising that the audience lit up the floor with multiple illuminating objects. It was evident that both Kier and Luke were lost in the song, with the audience providing support as their voices helped raise the song to the next level. In this moment I was remind what I want out of life. Why I want to be a recording and touring band.

(My video wouldn't load but this captures the same ambiance as at The Haunt)

I’m going to leave you on that note.

Short and sweet.

Until next time, unpleasant dreams.

The Great Escape Festival

Hello my pretties, yes I know it’s been a while…yes I know there’s no real excuse…besides uni work and waitressing…but still no excuse to leave you hanging for this long. So it’s a good thing that I have an intriguing story for you isn’t it?

Let’s get to it shall we?

Hey mumma look it's me!

Right, so as of Thursday I volunteered for a little festival called The Great Escape, heard of it? I’m sure you have, as it is Europe’s leading festival for new music based in Brighton, with over 400 bands playing across three days. It just so happens that this year it celebrated its 10^th birthday. Anyways as I said I volunteered to work it, which involved exchanging wrist bands for tickets, then ‘supervising’ acoustic gigs at the Arts Museum near the Royal Pavilion, but we’ll get to that bit a little later. As a reward for the hours I put into working there I received free entry to all the gigs, being a musician you can imagine how excited I was about that. Especially as the music range was so diverse. Bands and artists were scattered all around Brighton, playing both local venues and pubs or playing on the street like a perfectly amplified, scheduled busking session; if you’ve never been I highly recommend it. I recommend volunteering even more as it is such a remarkable experience that cannot be beat, hence I will be volunteering again net year.

Out of all the bands I managed to see…and remember seeing after all this was a festival in which I only really paid for alcohol…I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people hung-over in Brighton streets all at once…or see so many people drinking before 11am…but back to my point. There are a handful of bands I want to talk to you lovely people about, adding them to list of artists you should give a few moments to. The great thing…well one of…was that fact they were all new, upcoming artists, pretty much all of them I had never heard of, so it was a wonderful experience just showing up at a venue to watch a random band…something I once again recommend people to do. Which is exactly what happened with the first band I saw Aquilla now this band definitely had talent on their side, with a big focus on ambiance, however they are more of a band you listen to rather than watch.

The Jacques @ The Hub

Another band I feel are worth a mention are The Jacques, a four piece from Bristol. They played Brighton’s The Hub at 12.30pm, playing this early you could tell it was something they weren’t used to as it took them awhile to get into their set, however when they did their onstage banter started to project into the crowd. They became more and more interactive whilst still maintaining their attitude and personas. Notably, their songs were heavily focused on harmonises and interesting bass lines, similar to the style of the Pixies. What’s more there songs were danceable without swaying too much towards pop genre, all thanks to the bass lines. A key track for me was Painkillers, which I found to have a mesmerising beat, keeping a danceable state, yet with interesting melodic turns.

One of my personally favourite finds was a band called Versus You, anyone who is a sucker for pop punk like I am should check out this Luxembourgen band. This band had me completely captivated that I couldn’t bring myself to make notes during their set, I simply enjoyed their presence and songs. With memorable hooks and fast paces tracks relating similarly to Green Day’s Dookie album and any Blink 182 track. They are definitely one of those bands you couldn’t help but sing along to and completely go mental in a crowd for…even at The Hope & Ruin at 13.15. But they are a band I’ve been listening to constantly since finding them on Spotify.

PollyAnna @ Sticky Mikes Frog Bar

With the pop punk vibe still coursing through my veins I ventured to Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar at 14.00 to see PollyAnna. Now this is a band that is very hard to place on the genre table. Her performance was completely hypnotising, with a beautiful voice that had the power to just cut through you. She began her set with a electronic song, however the rest included singer-songwriter acoustic songs to heavier rock songs, back to a more pop orientation. All the diverse sounds were intriguing combined with a intimate show was truly breath taking. The even more amazing thing is to think that she is an artist that I wouldn’t have necessarily took the time to listen to online, I fell in love with her live performance and look forward to seeing her when she returned to the UK for round two.

Remember I mentioned I was moved to the museum to ‘supervise’ some of the acoustic shows? Well those were experiences I won’t ever forget. It was something extremely out of the ordinary to watch these singer-songwriters. The sets were so intimate that you could hear a pin drop in the audience. The only thing missing was lighters in the air…but then the fire alarms would have gone off and nobody needs that!

Rory Indiana @ Unitarian Stage

Now the last band I want to mention are no strangers to you, at least they shouldn’t be I talk about them enough. And that is my very own Rory Indiana. Unfortunately all three of their sets clashed with my work hours, but my team leader was sweet enough to let me run off and see one of my favourite bands play. Turns out he was there too the sly devil. But the guys played in a setting that would be unfamiliar to any artist of their genre, and that was under the sun in the middle of street…still with their full effects and grit that they deliver in places such as the Hope & Ruin or The Haunt. I won’t lie I was slightly sceptical about the ‘venue’ choice  but it turns out it was truly remarkable, worked so well. Kinda like two opposites so different that they can’t help but work. Now we all know I could go on and on and on about Rory Indiana so I’ll stop whilst I’m ahead.

My hat goes off to all the bands that either played the Great Escape, Alternative Stages or Brighton Fringe Festival. There was some serious talent there, many of which I saw, but there is far to many to document in one blog post. This has given me so much inspiration and motivation to apply to my own writing and performing methods. What’s more, I met so many remarkable people over these past few days who mad the experience that little bit better.

Now where’s the sign up sheet for next year?!

For now, unpleasant dreams.

"Can I get a Amen?"

Halestorm.

Southampton O₂ Guildhall

12.03.15

I’m back!

And I’ve been a busy bee. Between my job, mountains of assignments and my commute I’ve been struggling with maintaining any kind of social life. But I managed to go to a gig this week! I know! Be proud of me! Want to know why I love and fully promote going to as many live shows (both music and theatre) as you can? Because nothing truly beats that experience. No live show ever gives you the same experiences. There’s something truly remarkable about such a large body of people all coming together because of one common interest. Everything is forgotten about: the world, life, love, and religion. All that matters is that moment. Right there. This is one of the reasons I want to be a live performer so much, because of the power it can have over people and their lives…in a non-creepy, dictatorship, egotistical manner of course.

So I finally got round to seeing Halestorm headline. I’ve seen them live once before, supporting Alter Bridge along side Shinedown. Again I was completely blown away by this band’s performance. Lzzy Hale (singer and guitarist) is an inspiration to any girl wanting to be in Rock. Although in recent years more female artists are emerging, they mainly surface in R&B or Pop genres, or they’ll front the softer elements of Rock such as Pop Punk. But not Little Miss Lzzy. Nope. She’s taking hold of the rock world and shaking it up. Following a similar style to Metallica’s James Hetfield or Shinedown’s Brent Smith. This woman is not afraid to use her sexuality to enhance her front woman traits. She’s proving women know how to play heavy Rock whilst still maintaining her feminine side. She’s also adamant to show we are capable of singing and writing about more than love and breakups; though still is able to show this side simultaneously to her insistence that women can be just as aggressive, sexually raw and ambitious as men. What’s more, her vocal range and delivery is exceptional, with so much power it’s awe-inspiring. Along with rarely putting down her guitar, occasionally soloing but primarily maintaining the groove and grit in the rhythm. WHILST delivering an amazing stage presence and interaction with fans in something like eight-inch heels! Now it’s easy to assume that someone of the above description would be quite arrogant and self-involved. But no. Far from. Lzzy is the most humbled, sweetest performance I have had the pleasure of seeing live.

My respect for this woman increase by ten fold after Thursday nights performance, as she still gave a remarkable show whilst having the typical British cold. Her vocals remained powerful and exceptional despite losing her voice, thus proving how much of a professional she is and how proper, frequent vocal warm ups are completely necessary. Furthermore, she is fully aware of what her vocal chords are capable of without over-straining them or doing anything that would severely damage them. Yet you could only tell her voice was more fragile when she spoke between songs. Like I said a professional.

Another element of the show that I personally found remarkable was Arejay’s ten minute drum solo. Yup you read that right. A ten minute drum solo. In which he was the only body on the stage. There are only a handful of drummers who are capable of maintaining an audiences attention for that duration of time. Hell there's few frontmen who can do that effectively! But Arejay successfully kept his audience captivated for the entire time before the remaining members of Halestorm returned to join him.

 If you ever get the chance to see this band live do it. You won’t be disappointed.

Here's the setlist for you guys, definitely give it a listen if you haven't already!

"Tonight I'm Sleeping with Sirens"

Well hello there, I know it’s been a while but trust me this has been worth the wait. Firstly let’s get formalities over and done with shall we? How have you all been? Hoping your New Year was accompanied by a terrific hangover, if not you weren’t doing it right, but hope it was amazing all the same. Okay enough of all that back to the part you’ve all been waiting desperately for, a new article, some more wise words of wisdom from yours truly. This time we’re lucky enough to have some live photographs, that’s right people Rebel Yell is going up in the world! So I’d like to thank you to Sammi Doherty in advance for letting me use her awesome photos. Everyone say thank you…they’ll be up shortly for you all.

Rory Indiana with Empire's lead singer Joe Green.
Left to Right: Dan Ely; Harry Ward; Joe Green; Ben Clement; Rory Kaye.
Photo By: Sammi Doherty

It’s a Tuesday night here in Brighton, and I’m spending it at the recently reopened “The Hope” so far the ambiance here is so quirky you’ve just got to love it. They have random things hanging from the ceiling, such as guitars, book pages and God knows what else; what’s more they have a caravan as their kitchen…trust me it works. But I’m not exactly here to admire the decor, Rebel Yell hasn’t gone into home interior quite yet. Up stairs is where I’m heading though, ya see remember a little band called Rory Indiana? I harped on about them a few months ago? Well I’m here to rattle on about them again, I know you all loved what I had to say before and you’re going to love this just as much. Now one great thing about being here in Brighton is how much music is out here, especially undiscovered bands or those who are just starting to make a name for themselves. There’s nothing better than just randomly showing up to a gig and going with it…okay you can probably think of much better things but it’s definitely in the top ten. And granted this particular gig wasn’t a spontaneous decision, I decided to come about a week ago…again not the point though. The first time I saw Rory Indiana was completely spontaneous, as a result I’ve been infatuated with their music ever since. Plus all the guys are absolute sweethearts…okay out of all words I could have used to describe them I don’t know why I settled on that one, just humour me and go with it…on the few times I’ve met them/spoke with them they’ve always been so grateful and genuinely ecstatic that their music is reaching a wider audience outside of their immediate social circle. That’s a quality that I’ve found a lot of bands lose early on in their career, they seem to forget that the way to keep people around isn’t purely through brilliant music, but actually interacting and having a sense of humility; nine times out of ten people are more compelled to follow a band who try to keep as connected to them as possible. This is a quality I hope that Rory Indiana will continue to illustrate as they excel through the industry.

We all here know how I like to babble on about all sorts of random and most of the time pointless things, and trust me I’ll get to the crucial topic somewhen today, but for now just deal with this, after all my blog my rules. Anyways, we all are aware that I’m an aspiring musician; this being a side project I started a few years back. Hopefully you’re all also aware that I’m not “major label bad, indie goo” like most naïve musician I encounter. But I do understand how important it is for smaller bands to break into the medias attention. There are some out there who deserve so much credit for the work their putting out there, for their talent to be recognised and appreciated. Hence why I keep bombarding you with people like Rory Indiana. I’ve been following this band for a number of months now…not literally of course because that would be both creepy and stalkerish, and I don’t recommend stalking a band, it most probably will end badly for you. Wait where was I? Oh yeah, I’ve been following Rory Indiana for a number of months now and I’ve already seen vast improvements to their set and performance, their hard work is definitely starting to show through. Determination and dedication is key to this industry, and to any job really. 

Recently the band have been out to Sweden to play a few college gigs over there, this is their first step into targeting an international audience. The video below is taken from an acoustic set. Personally I think for a band who produces music like these guys it’s extremely difficult to strip back a song to just an acoustic guitar and vocal line effectively. This accents the bands potential and talent extremely well, as it is evident that Ben Clement’s guitar technique is close to flawless in this example, as well as demonstrating how powerful Rory Kaye’s voice actually is; plus you can really appreciate and hear the genius behind the lyrics. What’s more, both put the same amount of enthusiasm and energy into this performance as they would in a regular show…well not exactly the same…the same level definitely but illustrates how the guys are capable of adapting their performance strategies to be appropriate to the audience they’re playing to.

Okay, so the gig as usual the band did not disappoint, even as they were setting up the energy and anticipation in the room immediately heightened. The guys effectively interwove songs from their EP “Emiricism” which you can purchase here.

(see what I did there aye? Now that’s what you can call proper product placement! Wait is it product placement? Or just simple marketing? Oh whatever it is it was subtle until I pointed it!) But if you guys are broke students like myself (although I own the EP and highly recommend that you do to) you can listen to it on Spotify here.

Dan Ely on Bass
photo by: Sammi Doherty

 Anyways back to the gig! Like I said the boys didn’t disappoint. I have determined it’s difficult not to move in some way to their music, if you’re not moshing, your head is at least involuntarily keeping in time to Harry and Dan’s groove. For some reason I always find myself watching drummers and bassists at gigs, maybe because I don’t play those instruments or I’m genuinely intrigued by the whole rhythm section; each element of a band can make or break a song, but if the rhythm section is even slight off then the while thing can just be lost. A strong bassist and drummer is a must have as they provide the voodoo that makes the audience move. Now on the above EP there are some section you hear and think “nah that can’t be reflected right in a live performance” tonight I was stood corrected as the band perfectly orchestrated throughout their entire set. This is a band that take what they do on stage seriously, and you can definitely see and hear they spend hours to make their live sets as tight as possible. There are many beyond fantastic guitarists out there, most that surpass the typical “Slash” approach, I’m talking more Angus Young, Gary Moore technically gifted as well as practically. Tonight Ben Clement illustrated how he belongs in the same league as those guys, sure he’s only young and has a way to go, but the potential is there and prominent. Rory is no exception from the rest of the bands brilliance, this quintet support each others talents and roles on the stage; a strong unit is key. Not once did Rory’s vocal falter, instead it remain as strong and powerful as the above acoustic video. One thing I find fascinating about his vocals is the amount of emotion he is able to portray in it; it’s something that never ceases to amaze me. 

Watching each member on stage you can see how immersed and lost they get in their own music.
This is a type of passion that cannot be faked purely for stage use. 
Although still a band trying to break into the industry, they treat their crowd like each and everyone is there for them, and they’re giving them the best show they possibly can; to the degree audience interaction involved Ben and Dan coming into the crowd to rock out.

If you haven’t been able to see the guys live before, I’m telling you try and see them, if not here's a little teaser what they are capable of (taken from Old Market December 2014):

They’re a band that I will continue to go and see live as often as I can, as well as keeping up with all their new releases; such as new video to be released.

That video came out today, and I can safely say that the boys have once again out done themselves!

It’s hard to write about a live gig, it’s the kinda thing you need to witness for yourself, hence why I completely encourage you to go and see these guys live. I promise you will not regret it at all, instead they are a band that leave you hungry for more.

Something that makes their shows remarkable to someone like me is that fact they all are students at the same school as me. Sharing similar goals as them, it makes the whole idea a lot more tangible and realistic. Everyone has influences in whatever they do, they have the top dogs on their pedestals influencing them, but they also have the ones climbing their way up despite all obstacles in their way. For my Rory Indiana and those guys. Proving to me that if you want something bad enough and you’re willing to do all it takes to go after it, and still be genuinely authentic and nice people through it all, then you can.

Now the photography that will shortly be following this post was taken by Sammi Doherty. I work and know so many talented people, each deserve their share of credit so definitely check her out here:

https://www.facebook.com/sdlivephotography?ref=ts&fref=ts

So go on, give them another listen. Join their mailing list. Fall in love with their music like I have.

Until next time,

Rebel Yell.