Wish We Were There #9: Monuments @ Le Batofar

Monuments

Monuments are proving themselves to be something of an anomaly of the modern progressive music genre that borrows aspects,  whether you see those aspects as a guitar tone or genre specifics, in that they’re one band who translate much better in a live environment than on record. Much of the appeal of this kind of music is often found in the compositional and production elements so the live experience can…vary somewhat. For Monuments however the tight, percussive and coiled grooves and pummeling riffs that make up the majority of their debut album ‘Gnosis’ come to life in the confines of a club much more than they do through a set of headphones. We discovered that on the Glasgow date of their latest European tour and now everyone who’s been unlucky enough to miss those dates can get something akin to the experience thanks to this full live set of the band from a recent show in Paris making it online.

Click here to ‘like’ Monuments on Facebook to be kept up to date on future shows and releases.

C.McMillan

Wish We Were There #8: Motorhead ‘Ace of Spades’

Motorhead cira ‘Ace of Spades’

If you need it explained to you as to why THIS album is important then you really do need to watch this. If at the end of it you still don’t understand it then I can’t see anyone really being able to help you.

Motorhead are one of the most important rock and roll bands of all time. They made the bands you like like the bands that they liked and so on and so forth. All of these things are important kids. This album in particular is tremendously important.

Click here to ‘like’ Motorhead on Facebook to be kept up to date on future shows and releases.

C.McMillan 

Wish We Were There #7: Bleeding Through @ Chain Reaction

Bleeding Through

We’re sad Bleeding Through are gone. We’re going to miss them. But at least we still have things like this to remember them by.

Great show, DIY as fuck, genuine and honest and all those good things we loved about Bleeding Through. The only disappointment being the focus on older material, as well as bringing out some gems, meant the band excluded killer cuts from ‘The Truth’ and ‘Declaration’. But that also meant they avoided sub par material from their self-titled effort and ‘The Great Fire’ so I guess ultimately I’m OK with the trade off.

If you were never into Bleeding Through this won’t do much for you. For those of us that were it’s pretty fucking sweet.

Click here to ‘like’ Bleeding Through on Facebook to be kept up to date with future shows and releases.

C.McMillan

Wish We Were There #6: The Mars Volta @ Abbey Road

The Mars Volta

As far as virtuosic and wildly creative and free thinking music goes The Mars Volta are a house hold name. If you don’t know why at this point I really can’t help you. But watching this live session of the band from the legendary Abbey Road just might. That or it’ll fuck you brains out.

The sessions features a satisfyingly down to earth interview alongside two full live tracks; ‘Cotopaxi’ and ‘Goliath’. Notably this particular line up of the Mars Volta features drum extraordinaire Thomas Pridgen. Not to be missed.

Click here to ‘like’ The Mars Volta on Facebook to be kept up to date on future shows and releases.

C.McMillan

Wish We Were There #5: City and Colour in the studio for ‘Little Hell’

City and Colour

We’re throwing a slightly different one at you this week for Wish We Were There. This time around instead of a live show we’re going with a brilliant insight into the studio process behind the recording of the record ‘Little Hell’ in 2011.

It’s great to see an artists going for a more stripped down and vibe based recording approach in a culture where everything is digital. Not that digital is no bad thing, its provided us with some magnificent sounds and records over the years, but there is a magic to the approach that Dallas Green took on this record that the digital approach doesn’t achieve. It’s not better, it’s just something entirely different. Seeing City and Colour blossom from an acoustic side-project to Alexisonfire into a fully fledged band. In truth, ‘Little Hell’ maybe didn’t capture some of that innocent magic that was found on ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Bring Me Your Love’ but its still pretty special in places. There’s something we can all gain for watching this kind of dedication and passion for your art.

Click here to ‘like’ City and Colour on Facebook to be kept up to date on future shows and releases.

C.McMillan

Wish We Were There #4: Killswitch Engage at Rock Am Ring 2012

Killswitch Engage

2012 was a big year for Killswitch Engage. It marked the tenth anniversary of thier seminal release ‘Alive or Just Breathing?’ and it also marked the return of original vocalist Jesse Leach who replaced Howard Jones after he left following is near decade long tenure as the band’s front man. Though one new song leaked in a rough demo form we’ve yet to hear how new Kilswitch material sounds compared to the very disapointing second self-titled effort in 2010 and the return of Leach as most of 2012 was spent touring in support of the ‘Alive or Just Breathing?’ anniversary and introducing, or for a lucky few re-introducing, Leach as the band’s front man live.

It served as an interesting experience to hear Leach return to his own material as well as his own takes on Jones-era material. Some were somewhat skeptical, myself included, as to how well some of the Jones era material would sound with Leach at the mic. Having caught them at Download this year, I was then nothing but convinced that the band have made the right choice. Need convincing or just after a reminder? Check out this pro filmed set from Rock Am Ring this year.

Unfortunately this particular video misses out some of set opener ‘Fixation on the Darkness’, but its the only high quality video that features the entire set bar that I could find. The set proves that the band are back in fine form and that some of Leach’s takes on Jones’ material, in particular the likes of ‘My Curse’ and ‘The Arms of Sorrow’ are pretty fucking magic. Sure, he doesn’t have the range or vocal technicality of Jones but he brings a soulful and punk rock charm and sense of intensity to the material that I feel more than compensates for any technical shortcomings. Passion wins out kids.

Then again Killswitch are pretty fucking magic so who’s that surprised? Here’s to that 2013 album.

Click here to ‘like’ Killswitch Engage on Facebook to be kept up to date on future shows and releases.

C.McMillan