Weekend is coming....Easter weekend with all the weirdness of our licensing laws...

RIGHT -  it's another weekend of gig clashes as Saturday shapes up with four - yes four - gigs. Deciding on which performance to attend, well that's up to you...

Most important gig to attend is Heat 4 of Metal 2 The Masses. That's the latest edition, presented by The Distortion Project, that sees band battle for a prestigious place at Bloodstock.

With doors opening at 5pm (and, for only £5 to get in) this is set to be a really tight competition. Sinocence, Conjuring Fate, Scimitar and By Conquest Or Consent -  four bands, total quality acts with only two set to proceed to the semi-finals.

Tough, tough decisions for all those who have to vote. And, if you're not there, you can't vote! Never mind the Westminster election debates (for now) this is when your vote can really count.

After you step outside the doors of the Limelight2 you have to assess where to go next...and it's a wide choice.

You can trek to Ahoghill where titans of hard rock Danny Vaughn and Dan Reed appear together with a Snake Oil experience at the Diamond Rock Club. [And if you walk out of the door of the Limelight at 9pm we can advise that at Belfast Central train station the 9:20 train will have you in Ballymena by 10pm and a short taxi ride to the Diamond...]

If hard rock is your 'thang' and the Diamond isn't on your tour plans then former Rainbow singer, Joe Lynn Turner is occupying the Voodoo: he may have once have sang 'Can't Happen Here', but apparently it can happen in Belfast...
Now, you may be expecting to enjoy the pints of hard rock and metal until you order your last drink at 1am...well you'd be wrong. Because you'll be ordering that last sup at midnight. It's Easter after all. The first full moon after the vernal equinox...

It's controversial to the say the least, but you can read about some of the controversy about the licensing laws blogger 'Belfast Barman' sums it up here with the post 'Easter is Easter: Christianity Ruins It For Everyone' It's good reading!

Now, if you were not enamoured by the likes of 'I Surrender' or 'Can't Happen Here' played acoustically then things will be a little bit heavier at The Bar With No Name on Belfast's Dublin Road.

Death Of A Salesman, Scimitar, Figure Head and By Conquest or Consent will be shaking up any scenesters who happen to wandering by The Bar With No Name.

Now, if you recover from all that then Limerick is re-enacting an historical event from the 17th Century - the Siege of Limerick.

Leave aside the history of the Jacobite and Williamite wars, this is more like the pre-history of the island than what passes for history nowadays.

Yeah, Alunah are playing but this is a northern invasion [screw your politics this a metal show!]

War Iron, Rabid Bitch of the North, Astralnaut, Altus, By Any Means, Overoth and Maverick are among the many, many bands playing on Easter Sunday in Limerick.

Shall we be heading down - hell yeah. Reviews on the recent Sinocence/Maverick/Conjuring Fate etc gig will follow: after all you wouldn't expect us to say a word given that Belfastmetalheadsreunited is amongst the judges...