Tag: Review

The rain may have settled for longer than expected but Soundgarden brought the house down at this year’s Hard Rock Calling.

The rumours that the event was going to be called off due to the condition of the ground has been ruining my week on the run up to the festival.

I was nervous getting to the grounds expecting a complete wash out but due to the staff’s hard work over the past week – the ground was well prepared and although there was mud…it was nothing that a good pair of wellies wouldn’t overcome.

The first time I ventured into a gig at the Stade De France was for U2 on the 360 tour in 2010. I was completely blown away by the stadium and the experience that I had that night.

I had said to my friend that if Metallica were ever to announce a date here that I would be at it in a heartbeat!

Fast forward 2 years and I find myself in Paris to see Metallica play the Stade De France. Although not the biggest of stadium’s in the world, what impresses me most about the venue is the ease to get to it using the metro and how well the crowd are organised and also the personal touches.

It was more of the most high anticipated gigs of the year – it sold out within minutes and tickets were being sold for up to twice the original selling price. Friday seen the Red Hot Chili Peppers roll into town to play at the O2, Dublin.

It has been a good few years since I last seen the Chili Peppers live. They seemed to of had a love affair with Ireland for a few years making appearances at Slane, Lansdowne Road (now known as the Aviva) and also a huge concert at the Phoenix Park.

Despite approaching their 50th birthdays, the surviving founders of California’s premier rock outfit still know how to bring the house down. Support on the night came from Fool’s Gold from Los Angeles but unfortunately due to the match traffic on the way into town – I missed the majority of them. From reports I was told that they were really good and it is a pity I missed the chance to see them.

Well we made it back in one piece (or just about) from this years Download Festival at Donington Park.

As I had posted before the festival, Download is one of my top 3 festivals to attend every year and it never fails to kick start my summer with some amazing music and a chance to meet good music loving people.

We arrived on site at 10am on Friday and got set up straight away. I have to hand it to East Midlands airport for setting up a temporary off-license in the spar – it was really very handy!

This festival review was written by Lorna Begg and first appeared on State.ie

Sonisphere may be only into its second year, but already the weekend has cemented itself in the metal festival calendar alongside Download and Reading and Leeds as the new big boys in town. Taking place solely at this venue last year, 2010 saw it become the only travelling festival of its scale, taking place in eleven venues across Europe including Poland, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Sweden to name a few. The capacity increased this year and so did the stages – going from three to five but with no two acts playing at the same time on either of the main stages the issue of sacrificing one band to see another was solved and also provided plenty of opportunities to burn off those festival burgers and beers.

You get a sense of the festival’s status when the Friday, considered a warm up day, included acts such as 65 Days of Static, Terrovision, Europe and Alice Cooper. Europe took to the Saturn Stage around 7pm and put on an impressive show that included a cover of ‘No Woman No Cry’ and of course finishing the set with ‘The Final Countdown’ which was sang by just about everyone in the festival grounds. Next up after a quick run back to the tent to stock up on cider was Gary Numan. Numan puts quite a show, and his set included new songs along with classics such as ‘Cars’ and ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ which was the highlight of his performance.65 Days of Static clashed with Alice but still managed to attract a massive crowd to the Bohemia tent, and it was clear to everyone why. This post-rock instrumentalists played an unforgettable set with ‘Retreat, Retreat’ being one of the highlights. It is definitely time to put this impressive band on a main stage slot. Cooper, meanwhile, closed the Saturn stage on the Friday with his amazing theatrical show that rarely disappoints. He is a master at shocking and entertaining people and had the crowd singing along to songs ranging from ‘Poison’ to ‘Cold Ethel’. The full show included a guillotine, straightjacket and various torture contraptions that are used in his Theatre of Death show.