Slightly off topic...but all hail FUEL!

Slightly off normal topic this post, but all hail to the young people led project in Enniskillen called FUEL. I was there today as part of my 'day job' as Media and Public Affairs Officer for the Children's Commissioner and met up with a group of young people determined to help themselves by setting up a project they run.

Welcoming the Commissioner amid TV cameras and press photographers local act Setoria [think that's the right spelling!] débuted, followed by a hilarious duet singing about being ginger! (that has to go on Youtube!

And who was in the middle of it all lending a helping hand but Krum of Darkest Era!

Great to see that west of the Bann the shining beacon of metal burns fiercely and more to the point under 18s proving once again they're not wasters intent on causing crap, but rather contributing and rocking out in a safe, healthy environment. All hail FUEL, keep it rockin' keepin' it real!

The Soulfly tribe is once again on the warpath

Soulfly have confirmed a Belfast date - 5th February, 2009 at the Spring and Airbrake.

Max Cavalera's happy band of warriors will bring their metal on the back of the album release of Conquer earlier this year. And the main has this to say about his commitment to the world metal music cause:

“I do this for the love of music. We could use the tools of the market to make a commercial record and sell more, but I wouldn’t be as happy inside. I made the choice, and we aren’t going down the easy road. We’re going down the fucked up road, but that’s the road that we know.”

Tickets £17.50, usual outlets, neck brace must be purchased separately.

Warm up for Gorgoroth on Saturday

If you want to warm yourself up for Sunday's Gorgoroth gig the Distortion Project's regular RockD slot tomorrow (Saturday) sees Arcane and Niyah Sky play at Katy Daly's.

Priced £2.50...excellent value!

The following Saturday RockD sees Interrogate, No Grace Given, and Razor Sentry - same venue, same price!

Aussie prog covers...

Nearly forgot to post this...the world's largest tribute act, The Australian Pink Floyd, are returning to Belfast for an Odyssey gig on 26th April, 2009. Talk about enduring appeal for prog!

Welcome to Free P Hell :)

In case you've forgotten (not likely!) those fun-loving, controversy stirring, friends of Free Presbyterian demonstrators everywhere, and Black Metal legends Gorgoroth will be paying their first visit to Belfast on November 23rd.

They play Ormeau Avenue's Limelight. Tickets, priced £15 are still on sale from Katy Daly's or http://www.geturticket.com.

"Expect the unexpected from a band that constantly push themselves to their physical and emotional limits," rightly said promoters, The Distortion Project.

Doors on the day are at 8pm. Support comes from AVERSE SEFIRA and ZEBEDIAH CROWE http://www.myspace.com/gorgoroth
http://www.myspace.com/aversesefira
http://www.myspace.com/zebadiahcrowe
http://www.thedistortionproject.com
http://www.myspace.com/distortionproject

Lamb of God support

Thanks to Wayne for the tip, Belfast promoter, CDC Leisure, has confirmed to me that Five Finger Death Punch and Mass Extinction will be the support for Lamb of God's 8th February Mandella Hall spectacular metal assault. Neck braces at the ready!

December 13th All-Ages line-up

Pre-Christmas All-Ages gig at Black Box on December 13th...here's the lineup (Not in any particular order)

• Escape Fails
• Hand of Death
• Ozzmium
• Circadian
• This Years Confession
• Dead til Friday
• Niyah Sky

Doors are at noon and tickets, available at the door are priced at a very reasonable £5

More batty action

Total Rock is reporting that Cancer Bats will support In Flames' Belfast Mandella Hall appearance on 23rd April...more soon

Trivium support

Support for Trivium's December 5th Mandeall Hall comes from The Haunted and Rise to Remain. Tickets are £20.50 for this over 16 gig...doors 7pm

Ain't a Bitter Saturday at all

Playing at Katy Dalys, Ormeau Avenue on Saturday 15th:
A Little Bitter and
Obsidion

Doors 3.30pm, admission £2.50. First band at 5.30pm, music til 8.

Gig courtesy of the Distortion Project regular RockD slot at the Ormeau Avenue venue.

Escaping to a December party?

Fed up with the office geeks and schoolyard arseholes planning Christmas parties with stupid dance music and X-Factor rejects as a soundtrack to turkey stuffed nightmares? As well as the healthy crop of gigs for us 'older' folks (Mastodon, Trivium, Municipal Waste, Biffy Clyro, Black Stone Cherry) littler ones will have the chance for some hard rockin' oblivion in December.

Those dame fine chaps Escape Fails will be bringing their "post-hardcore wrecking ball" to the Black Box on December 13th for an all-ages show.

Support from Circadian and at least one other act.

More details to follow...Christmas crackers, tinsel and mistletoe optional...

Flaming good Belfast date!

As if the queue of metal bands set to play Belfast wasn't getting ridiculous enough as it is, Swedish mentallists In Flames have posted a Mandella Hall date on their Myspace.

The proposed date is April 23rd next year.

No definite confirmation from a promoter as yet, though this looks a certainty :)

Ormeau Park and Metallica

Seems that the rumour mill over Metallica playing Belfast's Ormeau Park has been spiralling all over the place. While any sensible metalhead would back this to the hilt there are a few facts that we have been trying to piece together. Here they are:

• Metallica have told their buddies that they want to play Belfast;
• There is an application for an entertainment event at Ormeau Park;
• A security firm has been requested to provide a crew for a possible June/July/August outdoor event in Belfast
• There are slots in Metallica's current confirmed tour diary in June and July and nothing has been announced beyond the 5th Copenhagen show.
• Belfast hasn't an indoor venue large enough to cope with the in-the-round set, but it has ben adapted for both indoor and outdoor use

So far all sounds good...but here are the contra points:

• At least one local promoter has no idea if this is real or not
• A close contact with the band has intimated that while they'd love to play Belfast again nothing has been discussed in detail yet
• The last big outdoor gig (Botanic Gardens) in Belfast ended in a row between the promoter and PSNI over bills
• The traffic management around Ormeau Park may cause objections to a large gig

All this didn't stop website that sells "legitimate pre-sale tickets" offering to secure two tickets for me for a, ahem, a reasonable booking charge. When I called them it was strange there was no answer...passed details on to the authorities and lo and behold within 30 minutes that date on the 'Tallica tour was taken down....

In other words we have to take the balance of these arguments. As those of you who may remember school/uni philosophy it all comes down to the burden of proof. As it stands the burden of proof does not rest either way....

But...the final word from an ill-informed/well-informed (you choose :) after the summer) source was that if you're serious about Metallica don't even think of booking your summer holidays til we know the exact date!

On this occassion I'll leave impartiality well outside the door and say to the promoters..."Make this happen!"

Dimmu Borgir

No official confirmation yet, but Kerrang! reported this week that Dimmu Borgir will be co-headlining with Lamb of God at the February 8th Mandella Hall gig.

Will let you know as soon as promoter says one way or t'other; this could be one very, very noisy gig :)

ADDENDUM: No confirmation from promoter - spoke to a staffer at Kerrang! today who said they 'assumed' it was another date on the Metal Hammer sponsored Defenders of the Faith 2 tour with DM. It's not listed as a DM tour date on their official site...any update we'll post here

NOFX for Spring and Airbrake

Back on October 11th we trailed the forthcoming announcement of a NOFX Belfast date. Today CDC made it official. NOFX are playing an intimate show at the Spring & Airbrake on 26th April, 2009.

Tickets are on sale now for £19.00 (subject to booking fee).

I for one don't have too much time for a lot of the pop punk dross that has been thrown up in the wake of the likes of NOFX, but they are among the bands that have a genuine sense of the absurd, as well as a keen awareness of their place in the world.

Fat Mike is not only a talented songwriter, but has demonstrated a political nous many of his contemporaries lack. Today as America casts votes for the next incumbent it was Fat Mike and a few like minded souls four years ago that campaigned long and hard throughout the Warped Tour to get more young people registered to vote. While it didn't oust Dubbya that time, the seeds were sown. How many of those registered disaffected, angry, angst-ridden will now tip the balance when tonight's results roll in.

I'm putting my vote down now for a healthy smattering of tracks from 2003 platter 'War on Errorism', and an extra big request for 'The Idiots have Taken Over'.

Errr... Mastodon guys supporting Mastodon...

Fiend Without A Face featuring Brent Hinds & Brann Dailor will support Mastodon on Dec 4 2008 Belfast @ Spring & Airbrake

Go figure...http://www. myspace. com/fiendatl

Full Metal Racket 09

Full Metal Racket
Saturday 25th April 2009
Mandella Hall Belfast
All Ages.

• ROTTING CHRIST
• STEVE GRIMMETT/GRIM REAPER
• SCALD
• CELTIC LEGACY
• SORROWFALL
• AIRGED LAM'H
• FOR RUIN
• SINOCENCE
• DEVILMAKESTHREE

More to follow

Ormeau Park going all metallic....

If it happens you heard it hear first! Well placed sources at Belfast City Council have laid huge hints that Ormeau Park will be the venue for Metallica's 2009 Belfast date. Whether it all pans out or not we'll have to wait and see.

The facts we have so far: Sweet Savage, who as we all who know are on more than casual terms with 'Tallica, have announded on stage that Metallica will be playing Belfast in 2009; promoters are negotiating with Metallica's management; privately band members have expressed a desire to play NI again (...Justice for All Tour was the last time they played and that was in Antrim!); security is being booked for a 'big' summer heavy rock date; and, every fucking 'head has been talking about this since Death Magnetic was released...

All hardly conclusive, but we hear at Belfastmetalheadsreunited intend to be first in the queue, down the front and banging that head that doesn't bang! Get ready for whiplash motherfuckers

Birth
School
Metallica
Death!