PAGE 44 UPDATE

PAGE 44, ADELAIDE & THE AFTERPARTY JOIN FORCES FOR ‘THE TRIPLE THREAT TOUR’ THIS JUNE.

THE HIGHLY ACCLAIMED HOME-GROWN POP PUNK HEROES UNITE FOR A ONE OFF UK TOUR… AND THEY COULDN’T BE MORE PUMPED

TWEET – #TRIPLETHREATTOUR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCGuA-MwkUE

TOUR DATES FOR JUNE 2012 ARE AS FOLLOWS – ALL DATES AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW:

20th June – Bristol, The Thekla

21st June – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms

22nd June – Manchester, Dry Bar

23rd June – Leeds, Cockpit

25th June – Birmingham, O2 Academy3

26th June – London, Upstairs @ The Garage

Please contact Olivia@badheadmanagement.com with enquiries

PRESS RELEASE>>>>>> <<<<<< PRESS RELEASE

Live Review – Longsands @ PRETTY GREEN.

Longsands @ PRETTY GREEN, Newcastle.

Jay Dawson

>>>>>>>’LITTLE BRITAIN LIVE VIDEO’! - Longsands – Little Britain <<<<<<<<

Things are heating up as a good few dozen people flow into the doors of Newcastle’s PRETTY GREEN for the Longsands’ in-store-mini-gig.  In a room plastered with pictures of Liam Gallagher, the band definitely brought something different to the scene– quite a stark contrast in-fact.

Sitting comfortably in a big red leather armchair near the back of the room I watched people unwind little by little after a long warm day with bottles of becks (courtesy of the band) eagerly awaiting the start of the set. After a long and heated discussion with Mr Stewart Angus about the lyrical values and moral worth of the Longsands’ music, the boys finally opened their set with ‘Shut your mouth’.  The band delivered this opener sharply and positively offensively.   After this sharp introduction to the set, the band then went on to play the classics like ‘Worlds collide’ and ‘Streets and pavements’ – both of which the band delivered exceptionally. Regardless of the somewhat limited acoustic stripped back nature of the set, the passion for the music definitely revealed itself most in the vocals and spine tingling guitar.

Shortly after this introductory blitz of passion, Trevor stepped down and let Ian step up to sing ‘Affair in Manchester’.  This particular song took a different, more downbeat tone to the earlier songs in the set but nevertheless, Ian delivered the song fantastically and could not be faulted.

Shortly after, a group of fluorescent jacket wearing, McDonald eating curious looking adolescents came to join the party. They seemed to enjoy the music, by their short presence in the store – I guess the Longsands appeal to everyone, but soon scurried off to join their marras outside.  The Longsands finally finished their set with ‘Little Britain’ – my all time favourite, and ‘tightrope’ by the Stone Roses – something which put smiles on the faces of the older generation in the room.  Conclusively, a very impressive performance by the band, with excellent support from a lovely audience.

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Interview – Page 44

An Interview with Page 44

By Glen Lewis

I had the pleasure of sitting down with 2011 Red Bull Band Jam winners Page 44 for an interview before their Riverside show kicked off. They talked to me about everything from their festival experience, their EP and the recording of it, their hopes for the future, band etiquette and even porn. Here’s the whole interview, with the horrible smell in the Riverside dressing room removed for your reading pleasure.

How’s the tour been going so far?

Adam V – Edinbrough was a good start to it, to be fair. This is our first ever tour, so we didn’t really know how many people were gonna be there. It was a better turn out than we expected! There was a good sort of hardcore group with Page 44 T-Shirts that turned up.

Scotland tends to be great for that sort of thing.

Adam V – Yeah, they were hanging around the van afterwards just chatting to us, I’m sure some of them were late for buses and trains and whatever because they were just stood outside chatting to us all the time.

You’ve had good experience of touring having just been on tour with The Blackout, We Are The Ocean and Canterbury. How was that experience for you?

Zach – Amazing.

Adam S – It was a game-changer for us really, just take the first gig, Bristol – there were nearly two thousand people there!

How were the guys in the other bands?

Adam V – We thought we wouldn’t really see too much of The Blackout, but they were keen to take us under their wing.

Adam S – They said to us at the end that it was good to have a band on that were no hassle really. Every day, we were on time and didn’t run over with the sound check, didn’t run over with the set. It was a four band set, so you didn’t get long to sound check or to play, so it was a tight schedule.

Last summer you played Hevy and Sonisphere festival, how was that?

Adam V – We didn’t really know what to expect because we had never played any festivals. Download was the first we did… we didn’t know whether we’d go down well because most of the festivals that Red Bull did are all aimed at slightly heavier bands than us. We thought “Oh, sod it” and just played the best songs we’ve got. We really enjoyed it. We’re hoping to do a few this year. We’re not really sure which one’s we’ll do yet though.

So do you think the Red Bull Competition definitely helped the band progress?

Adam V – Oh, yeah. Even the press we’ve got from it – I think this month is the first in seven that we weren’t in Rocksound magazine. Obviously, we couldn’t buy that amount of coverage.

Adam S – We’re not a band that has the financial backing, we don’t come from a really wealthy background so we don’t get any support like that. So, Red Bull really pushed us forward. It’s worked unbelievably well – I’d like to think we took that opportunity with both hands. We absolutely smashed every element of it – every gig we had for ‘em, we gave 110%. When we were recording in London Roundhouse, we gave it 110%. And on The Blackout tour, we were nervous as shit every night, but we gave it 110% every night.

You just released your debut EP, ‘Leave The Last Man Standing’ which got 8/10 on Rocksound which is awesome – how’s the reception been from fans?

Adam V – It went out on the cover of Rocksound as well, so quite a few people have heard it, maybe some people who wouldn’t necessarily have checked it out, so it helped us get a fair few new fans. It also helped us find out how dirty thieving our friends are cos they couldn’t be bothered to buy the magazine ha ha. We went to the WHSmith near where Jay, Zach and me live and there were like, ten copies of Rocksound and not one of them had the CD on it. Everyone had just gone in there and nicked it ha ha.

Adam S – It was nice to have some people at the gig yesterday that had only heard of us because of being on the cover of Rocksound. It’s great that there’s a new fanbase for us.

You’re at a time right now where you’re growing in popularity quite quickly; I imagine it’s really exciting?

Adam S – Absolutely. At the end of the day, it’s been a lot of hard work as well. We wouldn’t begrudge that hard work, but there have been a lot of sacrifices. Sounds a bit gay, but the moment we shared just before we went on stage at Birmingham will live with me forever, just before we went out to our hometown, a crowd of two and a half thousand people.

Adam V – We’re not taking anything for granted, we’ve been given the opportunity to be doing the best we can to get further and carry on moving up the ramp.

What was the recording process like?

Adam V – It was good for us because… well, we hadn’t paid for it ha ha. Free is the best price ever! But really, because they were working on behalf of Red Bull and not us, we did preproduction for the first time there were a couple of songs where they were just like “Nah, don’t like that.” When we released the Watch Me Fade video, that song was completely different when we went into the recording process. They just went “don’t want this bit, don’t like that bit…”

Is that where the corporate suits came in slightly?

Adam V – Well, that’s their talent, they obviously have recorded bands before, that’s their job – we don’t record bands, we just play our songs and write our songs. We had just met them when they started saying like “Didn’t like that, don’t do that” so we were a bit like “Umm.. okay…”. But the second we got it sorted and how they thought the songs should go we were like “Yeah, actually.”

You had to make sacrifices, but it was worth it?

Zach – It was completely worth it.

Adam V – I think it’ll help our future songwriting too.

Zach – They had recorded bands like The Blackout and You Me At Six, so they knew what they were doing. When we were in pre-production, we didn’t know any of that, we had just met them! If it was to be done again, that’s how I would want to do it. We lived in London for two weeks recording that EP, playing with each other and saw each other every day. You get so tight as a group of friends and as a band.

The EP must be so close to your heart having spent so much time together and so much effort. It’s a great result. Reckon you’ll be recording an album now the EP is out there?

Adam V – The only problem we’ve got is funding an album. You know, we had two weeks in the studio and we did four songs – we’d need like, a minimum of ten weeks to do an album to the quality we’re happy with and that’s just a fortune.

Adam S – We’ve just got to keep working hard and doing what we’re doing.

Would you say you’re perfectionists?

Adam S – I think you have to be that way.

Adam V – With our original demos, we weren’t even getting them mastered.

Adam S – This was the first time that we’ve recorded and like, had our iPod in the speakers and our songs are playing, just seamlessly blending in. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard us at radio quality, like we’d be happy to have it playing on Radio 1.

It’s future-proof too, the fact that the songs are recorded well means that you can listen to it in ten years time or whatever and still think “yeah, that’s fantastic.”

Adam V – That’s why we decided to cut down everything else we had – it wasn’t the quality that we needed. We didn’t want people that want to give us gigs to listen to the old recordings.

Adam S – The last 6 months or so have shaped us into a much better product than we were before.

You seem ready for the future, are you excited for the future?

Adam V – There’s a few things we’ve got in the pipeline and things that we’re hoping will come up … it’s one of those annoying things where we want to talk about it but… you know, 1) we’ll probably jinx it and 2) It’s not completely set in stone.

Adam S – We don’t have any illusion of grandeur, but we’ve tasted the sweet, sweet taste of playing in front of thousands of people and we’ve held our own. Now we’ve had that taste, it’s all we’ll want. But what’s brilliant for our fans is that they’ll come to a show here where you’re talking about a big reduction in the amount of people and they’ll get everything that we’ve learnt from the big shows and get a better experience. Everyone wins.

Adam V – Because we’ve played to such a big amount of people, smaller audiences will be able to get the same big show experience from us.

Adam S – I think that’s one of the things we’d most look forward to… if we got really big, like we were selling out the 02 Academy and we had bands who would see supporting us like we saw supporting The Blackout, I think being able to help those other bands and give them opportunities would be the thing I’d most look forward to. If someone had come up to us at any stage and gone “You know what lads, I really like you, come on tour with us,” it’d be… magical. A proper Disney moment.

We’ll wrap up in a second, but first, I know you probably get asked this a lot but, where does the name Page 44 come from?

Adam V – Well, the story goes that when me and Adam S were at high school together, there was always a rumour that one of the teachers was in a porn mag. It was the sort of rumour where you think “Oh, nah, that’s rubbish” but then you look at her and you think… “Yeaah.”

Adam S – She had a face like a handbag, but her boobs were the most pert thing you’ve ever seen. Anyway, basically I was looking through my dads wardrobe as you do, I found a bit of a dirty mag and obviously thought “I’ll have a little look at this” and then obviously… it was on that page, legs akimbo.

Still got that magazine now?

Adam S – I haven’t, no, because if my dad knew … [I’d write the end of that sentence, but everyone laughed far too loudly to hear it]

Well, cheers guys. Enjoy the rest of the tour!

Live review – Page 44

Page 44 @ Riverside

With Support from Urban Masquerade, Chasing Jayne, FEUD, 22 Dropout and A Bar Fight With Pacifists.

Words – Glen Lewis.  Image – India Fleming

Life seems like a very busy bit of business for Page 44, whose last year or so have consisted of winning the Red Bull Bedroom Jam, supporting the mighty The Blackout on their tour, playing a bunch of festivals and releasing their debut EP, ‘Leave the Last Man Standing’.  I had already heard and thoroughly enjoyed the EP, but now that I’ve seen them play live, I have a full understanding of exactly why the lads have been going from strength to strength so rapidly.

There were five support acts to enjoy before turning to Page 44 (Pun absolutely and proudly intended); beginning with Urban Masquerade, whose gritty guitars and deep vocals very much made them the dark horse of the evening. The belter was also the banger as the frontman of the band took on both lead vocals and drums at the back of the stage. Putting the main entertainer at the back is inadvertently a little awkward, but regardless his performance was one of top notch quality. Some of the audience may have been a little intimidated by their heavy sound, but between several chuggy riffs that reminded me of tamer Deftones tracks and an awesome cover of Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing In The Name Of’, Urban Masquerade impressed.

Chasing Jayne were next and are a band I’ve personally watched grow, having played a show with them in my own band many moons ago. Their experience shows strongly, as all five of the lads bled pure confidence and a fair bit of style during their set, with the singer really pulling out all the stops to put on a damn good show, using the ample space the Riverside stage allows to really move around and even getting out into the audience a few times. Their music was all about sing-a-long choruses and sprawling riffs that soar and shake the room, though some songs sound very similar to one another. They add some stellar screaming vocals to later songs and a synth to the last tune which certainly provided a welcome bit of variety however, and it was a cracking bit of good ol’ rock and roll overall.

FEUD were next up, and FEUD like Muse. They really like Muse. They wear this influence upon their sleeve, and the handful of Muse covers they played during their set showed that they have everything it takes to emulate the same energy, style and skill of their musical forefathers. It goes well elsewhere too as each song is a pleasure to hear. Vocals were sharp, instrumentation was tight and as a unit, the band performed fantastically. It was all grungy riffs and wailing choruses with an out-of-this-world atmosphere and the lads themselves were quite comfortable on Riverside’s roomy stage.  What I’d love to see in the future from FEUD is an image to match the atmospheric music they pull off – it’d be great to see FEUD reach a stage where they can afford to put on a startling stage show a-la Muse – I bet they’d totally love to.

Taking things from space to the skate park next were 22 Dropo, a band of young ‘uns whose music would fit like a well executed olly on the soundtrack of a new Tony Hawk game, as it’s got all the blazing beats and punk vocals you’d want from such a thing. There’s something of a Sum 41 edge to their songs and they have crafted some awesome chorus’ which sounded great during their performance. A few stumbles occurred in their timing and a guitar gave them a little bit of bother halfway through, but these hiccups didn’t dampen their energy and the enjoyment garnered from their lively and likeable set.

A Bar Fight With Pacifists warmed the stage for Page 44 next and from the get go, the star of the stage was clearly the bassist – with fingers of lighting and his levels right up, focus naturally glided to him. He slapped the bass to add a bit of funk here and there and generally did an impressive job, and though he clearly knew he was doing pretty damn good, he never got self indulgent. His performance wasn’t the only good one going though, as every member played their part to create a pretty impressive set that covered songs from the likes of Red Hot Chilli Peppers to Biffy Clyro. The vocalist was a mixed bag, however – While his voice sounded absolutely fantastic in most songs, the more demanding vocal parts caused some trouble as his voice seemed too soft to beat the volume of the rest of the band – not the vocalists fault by any means, but a noticeable bother. Despite this, it was a really enjoyable set. And the drummer also had a wicked fro, yo.

When Page 44 finally entered the fray, they came with all guns blazing, despite the relatively small turn out. Watching the band as they stormed through each and every song with such precision and quality, you can tell they’re a band who know their set inside and out. This show could have satisfied an audience a thousand size the one at this gig and from their opener to their finish, the quality rarely dipped an inch. The music itself definitely had an indie flair to it, but was largely in the “rock” category, reminding me very much of newer We Are the Ocean material on a few occasions. They know how to write good tunes and many of the melodies stayed with me for a while, particularly the excellent chorus to ‘Answers’, my personal favourite. The effort in every line can be seen as the vocalist’s belt out their respective parts, drums crashed and bounced with metronomic timing and nary a strum was cocked up. Nothing but progressing popularity should be in store for Page 44. Their visit to the Riverside was a criminally small affair – get out and see these guys next time you get the chance.

Album Review – Young Guns – Bones

Young Gun Bones –Album review ‘BONES’

Elly Rewcastle

After such a high trail left behind Young Guns’ debut full length album ‘All Our Kings Are Dead’, ‘Bones’ has been met with high expectation. Jetting off to record in Thailand with former SikTh guitarist Dan Weller early last year started the instant hype for the High Wycombe quintet’s new release.

Opener “I Was Born, I Have Lived and I Will Surely Die” is certainly one that belongs at the beginning. Kicking in with the distorted sound of guitars before breaking into soaring guitars and thrashing drums that all together give off that stadium atmosphere Young Guns are more than capable of. If a handpicked support slot from classic rock Gods Bon Jovi isn’t enough to show this then I don’t know what is.

‘Dearly Departed’ follows in suit, the heavy influence of Lostprophets featured across the entire album is evidently demonstrated on this track, which leads into title track and new single ‘Bones’ where the sheer ambition and hard work of the band is truly displayed. With massive guitars and a solo to match break the track into its true potential displaying that talent and raw hard work that the band have put in to create the album. With massive lyrics and a chorus that breaks into any live atmosphere, ‘Bones’ is certainly one of the better tracks on the album and releasing it as a single is the right choice to display the massive potential featured in the 12 tracks.

The instrumental ‘Interlude’ is an understated pulse of bubbling electronica whilst ‘Hymn For All I’ve Lost’ neatly condenses that feeling of looking back on the past into a little over a minute without ever feeling cheap or throwaway. They also have a carefully hidden gentler side witnessed by the delicate ‘Broadfields’ which slows down the pace and strips away the fake tanned production to create an emotive piece that gives the lyrics space to breathe with a shot of falsetto thrown in for good measure.

Moments of unimagined maturity are also evident, to such an extent virtually invisible upon second albums of pre-peaked young bands. For instance, the finale produces a standalone acoustic guitar; accentuating exhausted vocals, gradually building to a final burst of energy – but leaving the album to drain out on a light addendum.

‘Bones’ is filled with a massive expectation and it certainly lives up to it. With a result that could have been much worse than it turned out to be its cheers all round for the Buckinghamshire five-piece as ‘Bones’ certainly succeeds.

See more updates on facebook and twitter: www.facebook.com/YoungGuns and @YoungGunsUK

Shutter Live Review: Asking Alexandria

Friday the 13^th saw the second stage of Asking Alexandria’s UK Tour as they hit the O2 Academy Newcastle, with Blessthefall.

Blessthefall pulled off a phenomenal set which including top selling hit ‘Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad’ and promised to be back in the UK soon. The band of Beau, Jared, Eric, Matt and Elliott were on their own UK Tour last October, but I don’t think they expected to be back so soon, and get the support they did.
Creating an electric atmosphere performing just before headliners Asking Alexandria, they could be forgiven for ordering the fans of Newcastle into a fierce motion of circle pits.

Then came Asking Alexandria, who are known as one of the craziest bands out there for their party style personalities. They created a party storm, in the form of lead singer Danny Wornsops vocal screams to get the crowd wild. The first album, ‘Stand Up and Scream’ saw the band release the song ‘The Final Episode’ definitely was the outstanding song on the first album, and as they began to play the song, the crowd went wild. To The Stage and Not The American Average also got the crowd crazy as multiple pits took place all around the standing area of the Academy.

The night also saw American outfit Chelsea Grin and British boys With One Last Breath take to the stage, and both were taken well and they each played an excellent set.

Kieran Carr

Album Review: AB III

Alter Bridge – AB III

This is the album that made the world take notice.

Scott Tailford

Coming off 07′s stellar sophomore effort ‘Blackbird’, Alter finally carved a definable sound for themselves, leaving the Creed comparisons far behind. Now here with ABIII we have a completely different beast altogether. Thick meaty riffs abound and pad out the rhythmic section of the album, as well as some of the best melodically phrased solos of the last decade. Lead guitarist Mark Tremonti has come a long way since the Creed days, and along with vocalist/co-lead player Myles Kennedy, they have a very definable and intense sound.
The album tells a story of personal redemption through addressing personal themes such as depression and loss of identity (Isolation, Slip to the Void) as well as touching upon larger issues such as religion (Words Darker Than Their Wings), along with what it is like to lose someone you love (Wonderful Life), this is a fantastically engaging album. These themes are perfectly set against an instrumental section laced with building crescendos, multiple guitar lines and anthemic choruses that have served Alter very well on last years’ first headline arena tour. ABIII is a phenomenal listening experience that will engage you for its’ entire 1 hour runtime. So buy a decent pair of headphones, sit down, and try to soak it all in.

SHUTTER: LIVE REVIEW: DESPITE MY DEEPEST FEAR

Despite My Deepest Fear @ Trillians Newcastle.

With support from Dethrone your Idols, Make No Mistake and We Have a Touchdown.

By Glen Lewis

Ear-blistering screams and room shaking riffs are the main course for the attendants of Despite My Deepest Fear and every crunch and crackle seems to literally shake the room – though it may have actually been the dedicated mosh-pit pioneers who set the foundations vibrating.

Very early on, the crowd was already fully formed, and there was real electricity in the air when first support act Dethrone Your Idols start their set. However, while the band play through a cracking set filled with crunchy riffs, a ton of tempo changes and searing vocals, it’s only the singer who seems to really get into his stride as he storms around the room giving his vocal chords a brutal beating. The rest of the band seem a little sedated for the most part and only get moving from time to time when they decide to do some jogging on the spot – a cornerstone of scream metal performances that they seemed happy to fall back on. Seeing more energy would have been fantastic because besides this, the performance was a hit, especially considering this was Dethrone Your Idols’ first gig. They were the heaviest act of the night and with great riffs and a plethora of breakdowns to sink your teeth into, they’re certainly an act to keep your eyes on throughout 2012.

Make No Mistake made a beeline for my heart when their set opens on the back of Ledger’s Joker being played over the speakers, and the first lyrics “I’ll fuck you up” kick in. These guys mean business. Amongst their set which blends old-school sounding rock shredding, quick punk beats and gritty vocals was a cover of Asking Alexandria’s ‘The Final Episode’, which went down a treat. Earning themselves more than a few pits and even some guy sliding his arse across the room like a dog with an itch, Make No Mistake put on a great show. The various solos which were picked out with lighting speed makes this band less dark and much more rock and roll than others on the bill, but they still hit a heavy chord or two in their various brain-melting breakdowns. It’s a shame, then, that Make No Mistake recently played their very last gig.

We Have A Touchdown sport some really crisp scream vocals and bass that shakes your core. Every member got moving from the very first song and they lead the way for several pits, even synchronising a jump into the audience to encourage some serious moving. The structure of their music involved a lot of tempo changes and every song has a heap of sections and tones, so the frequent second-long pauses to make shifts pack more punch are a welcome punctuation rather than a distraction. The metal-core genre is a complex one and We Have A Touchdown handle their transitions well, where other bands may allow a hiccup or two into their set. The best part of their set by and far were the breakdowns, all of which satisfied completely – although the wild-card blues style solo mid-set was another highlight.

Despite My Deepest Fear played a set filled with brilliant songs that dabbled in all corners of the metal genre… and a cover of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ which, while a little strange and over the top, went down very well and was a worthy risk to take. They played with fire in their hearts and had a great energy and connection with the audience from the top to the bottom. However, underneath the great melodies and well-written riffs, there’s a slight sloppiness I couldn’t shake. For every brilliant breakdown there was a second or so of noticeable uncertainty in their performance. These hiccups usually occur when the band launch into an instrumental section and simply suggest that the band are a little out of practise. This being said, if the creases were ironed out, this would have been a nigh-on flawless set. The songs were short but very sweet, the melodies hit satisfying highs and the heavier sections absolutely deserved every pit they formulated.

So the gig relieved the itch for a mosh, even if it stumbled a couple of times. All involved were sufficiently sweaty post-show and it’s a guarantee that every ear in the room was ringing.

(NOTE:  Archetype were originally on the bill for this gig, but pulled out at the last minute)

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