Damn you Metallica! Damn you laptop!

First things first - damn you laptop god! Your vagaries and hard drives with suicidal tendencies have kept me away from the usual over-stuffed, beer-fuelled waffling late-night sessions that see me churning out copy by the yard.

May Loki smite you laptop god, lest you ever think to scramble and mangle precious files again...

While I honestly missed updating, I did not appreciate being buttonholed by more than one person asking about the blog: I do not get paid for doing it and my name is not 'Belfastmetalheads'. Not until I have that wee appointment :) I, like so many who take the time and effort to post into the wilds of cyber-space on hard rock and metal do it for the love of metal!

Now on to why I damned the mighty Metallica in the headline above. I have been struggling where to start in reviewing the gig (and in my next post there will be comments about the gig and some pix courtesy of Simon).

Simply put, while I try as far as possible to give fair - sometimes too fair - reviews there is no way that I could approach the review dispassionately, without coming across as a 40-something fanboy.

I am biased with regards to Metallica, Maiden, BLS and Black Sabbath; not that all these acts have not been occassionally below par - rather that I can forgive them when they err as they defined not only the music that I and many others adore. They have been the soundtrack for all of my adult years.

So damn you Metallica I cannot even come close to writing a 'proper' review. I've been struggling to find the right way to write about the awesome, righteosusly massive, superb masters of metal; the one, the only mighty fucking METALLICA!

Fanboy moment over I'll now take a long sip of me Guinness and prepare to put fingers to keyboard and give an opinion rather than a review.

In other news...Ratt ticket competition coming your way, and a post to hear your views on the Thin Lizzy line-up being touted about under the band name.

Guinness and ciggy break now follows.

Ratty time at the Spring & Airbrake

VETERAN LA rockers Ratt are to make a return to the Spring & Airbrake on June 16th. Tickets are priced £19 +booking fee.

Here's the blurb from the promoter:

"Ratt helped pioneer Hollywood’s legendary Sunset Strip sound and scene and the band has returned sounding fired up and better than ever. Ratt’s first studio album in 11 years, Infestation, is a return to their heavy, riff driven roots. The band has reinvented their sound by rediscovering their strengths, shuttling listeners to a time when metal ruled the earth and real musicians wore eyeliner like a badge of honor.

"They have also added guitarist Carlos Cavazo to their lineup and ready to let the world hear their new collection of songs. Right out of the box, Infestation ignites like gasoline to an open flame, bursting with an energy and attitude absent from metal for years, unheard, perhaps, since before the dawn of DVDs, grunge and Facebook.

"Album opener “Eat Me Up Alive” slaps you in the face with attitude and a timeless riff that has been a staple in Ratt’s music and has set them apart from the pack. From the strip pole gyrations of “Look Out Below” to the keg party anthem “Take a Big Bite,” Infestation rages with a life and energy that Ratt is famous for. "