10 Slaves to Gravity 11 Good Charlotte 12 Skins 13 Enjoy Destroy 14 Twisted Wheel 15 Mindless Self Indulgence
04 IAMX
05 McQueen
06 Breed 77
07 Against Me
08 Chris Carrabba
09 Devildriver
The line up
yes they are all live so shut the F**K UP!
Burn live
IAM X CA2: Liverpool Let’s get one thing straight from the start shall we, THIS is the first live review in the latest and greatest incarnation of the magazine formally known as burn! You might well be muttering to yourself that it still is called that, NO! You would be wrong! It’s BURN! So it’s fitting that we set the seal and standard with this band, IAMX! The name might mean fuck all to you & if so, that should change, it may mean everything & that’s the way it should! So we have to explain why I guess and like every other lazy journo I’m going to do the taste test, yes the Oldie but Goldie genre comparison, but with a twist, here goes… Over 35 yrs of age: Kiss Vs Depeche Mode = Nothing in-between! Over 25 yrs of age: Nine Inch Nails Vs Prodigy = Nothing in-between! Over 18 yrs of age: Rammstein Vs Pendulum = Nothing in-between! So imagine that there was a band that was as harsh/theatrical/imaginative as Kiss, NIN, Rammstein, but as accessible and moved your feet like Depeche Mode/Prodigy/Pendulum, Imagine no more: IAMX! Then throw in an image and look that’s more Bolan than Cooper, Hanoi than Crue, and with a frontman that’s thrown away his Sneaker Pimps and is about s hot as you can get looking like a boy Vs girl and equally attractive to both: IAMX! So you put all that together with two amazing albums that quite frankly need to be owned, a live show that replicates those albums pitch perfect but with the image and shapes throw n in makes them even better, then what we have here is a band that delivers on all levels, they cross every border several times, cross back and you just lose the line in a blur, quite extraordinary, if you are looking for 21st Century Stardust, look no more: IAMX So what exactly makes this band the best example to kick-start a BURN revolution? BURN: When we Rock we Dance! When we Dance… WE ROCK: IAMX! Jj: 2008
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MLivecQ ue en rpool University So what happens when you pick up some new American management, and you are the favourite band of a man called Slash? Yes, you get the opening slot on the Velvet Revolver UK tour (Their last with font man Scott Weiland) and let’s face it; the entire tour is sold out as the venues are all in the 2,000 bracket, so the place is rammed tighter than Blackie Lawless codpiece! McQueen I have to say are a band that just passed me by, I’m no fan of female rock bands, I like my girl bands to be, well girls (the bangles) and yes I want to want to fuck them also! So imagine my surprise when McQueen come bounding onstage, running with the devil and tearing a hole in the floor, they look great, and yes I deffo want to fuck them , so that’s #1 on the checklist, they behave like girls, they are not tryin g to be boys with tit’s throwing mac ho shapes, they just rock, I can see why Mr Slash likes these girls, but the most important thing of all is something has changed, they no longer just pass by, they have som e great songs that make you stop, look and listen, so by the time they have finished, I have thrown the checklist away and just like them because they are a really good rock band with good songs, who the fuck came up with that idea? Expect them back around soon and unplug the jukebox and do yourself a favour, go take a walk, buy the ticket and see the show… Jj – 2008
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Br ee d 77 Central Station: Wre
xham
I like this band, ok so you’re thinking what the fuck! I guess I would to, why send someone to a gig when they like the band, surely they will be just praising the band, hell no! I think some of the criticism of Breed 77 is justified, they seem to sometimes play on their Spanish/English (Spanglish?) hybrid a little too much on times, then on others not enough, I can’t put my finger on it, but I wish they would just be a little less European on times, with the contrived and pretentious shapes and sounds, but then when they get out the simple Spanish guitars I want them to be more of a style and substance that’s more fitting with their heritage and future combined. They could deliver a quite amazing ‘unplugged’ style album with ease and I would like to see them embrace that side of the band more, because they are not a metal band, far from it, they are a simple serious rock band, almost out of sorts in the modern world, 20 years ago they would have been called a European Tesla! I for one don’t think that’s a bad thing and if they can just stop trying to be more Hammer than Mojo then they really could go somewhere special, they won’t, they will go for the hard edged angle, but they should leave that to killswitch engage and devildriver,, be who you are, not who you think you want people to think you are… See I told you I liked this band (lol) Jj – 2008
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Ag ai ns t M e CA2: Liverpool Stop! There is no reason to start a review with the word stop, unless it’s the title of a great song by a great band, and guess what this has been a gig I have been looking forward to for quite some time… Against me just again seemed to pass me by, I knew the name and had heard some of the songs, but nothing really stuck, just another pop-punk hybrid band that was telling me, no, we are for real, yeah right, that’s what they all say baby , Sum 41 was the last straw for me, I bought the ‘we are a real punk band’ tag way too often, then somewhere in 2007 I got taken to the Gallows! And that woke me up to a new dawn, many people just kept mentioning Against Me, and there latest album dropped through the door during the summer of 2007 and it fookin’ floored me, there is a song on that record calle d ‘Thrash Unreal’ I had it on repeat for a week. (even now I can’t just play it once!) So once again I’m in Liverpool waiting in anticipation for somethin g ‘punk’ to impress and digest, just like in Eric’s in 76’ when four youn g boy’s shouted those immortal word ‘Hey ho, let’s go!’ Against me do not disappoint in any way possible, they hit the ground running, full force, warp factor nine and I cannas’ get any more out of it captain’ comes screaming from the boiler room, they don’t let up, it’s a left, a right, a left, another right, fuck me this is fun, this is modern day punk rock n’ roll, Saigon shakes, Bangkok shocks, Against Me Rocks… I leave bruised, smiling, sweating and singing with the band ringing in my ears, boy I wish I was 14 agai n on nights like this, great gigs just make you feel timeless, ageless, Against Me just do all of that & more… Impressive never seemed a more apt word… Jj – 2008
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Ch ris Carrabba (Dashboard Conf Liverpool
essional): Acoustic: CA1:
Now I have loved DC for longer than I can care to remember, they just exploded onto the scene with such colour and passion that they became a badge, something that you wore as your heart on your sleeve, they were a band that sold lots of records really quickly, yet you felt like you were in an exclu sive club! Chris just makes you feel special, his delivery seems to be only speaking to you, it’s modern day Petty, Springsteen, Yes he’s that good, like Ryan Adam s, Chris has one foot in the 70’s glory days of the singer with the song, but the other foot is firmly plant ed in this century taking the whole game somewhere new and exciting, he has graced a previous cover of BURN and rightly so, Justified an ancient. So when I got the news that he was coming alone into Liverpool, just him, a guitar, and some songs, well this was DC Unplugged ‘Unplugged’… Chris does not disappoint, he just strolls onto the stage, introduces himself! Then proceeds to personalise 1,000 people into believing that it’s just one on one, you close your eyes and you are in a living room just listening to him, there is only you and him, the songs are so personal that you breat he each one, he lives each one for they are his, but they are yours! This is an uplifting experience, Jon Bon Jovi always used to say ‘welcome to Johnny boy’s church of rock ‘n roll’ now he’s right because music is suppo sed to make you feel like anything is possible, like your life means something, like the singer is on the stage , but he’s in your heart, your soul, he is you, you are he, there is no difference in what you do, nobody means nothing more than anyone else, we are all one, sounds a bit hippy dippy shit, but you can feel the emotion, the power, the belief, this is my churc h! Can I pick a favourite song, no! why? Simply because if Chris can’t, then neither can I? We caught up with him pre-show and he had several set lists strew n over the dressing room, all different and he just looks at them, picks some songs, changes his mind, then someone prints out for him what he played and the next day he does the same, it’s just brilliant, the only song that was on every list was ‘Vindicated’ and yes he did play it tonight. I would have to say that the Liverpool crowd tonight is exceptional, they sing like the kop choir, their voices carry Chris somewhere he needs to go to delive r on a higher plane, they make great songs even greate r, he is gone in a blink of an eye, he promises to come back later in the year with his full band, this was his first time in Liverpool, he kept wondering why, this was the home of ‘That’ band, tonight Chris bough t music home, and I can’t ait for him to bring it back, abso-fuckin-lutly stunning… Jj – 2008
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Devildriver + 3 Inches Of Bl oo d Central Station : Wrexham
I once saw Devildriver front-man Dez tear a hole in the roof of a venue I used to Dj at called The Tivoli in Buckley with his previous incarnation Coal Chamber, fuck me they were good, I have to say that I have not taken to the double D like the double C. I am also not a real metal head, it just seems to be a lot of thrash and posturising for the sake of it, when it’s good it’s awesome (metallica/machine head) but mor e often than not, it’s just average, so it’s with trepidation that I approach tonight’s double headed serpent, light’s, camera, action, do you wanna get rocked? Devildriver are metal, no make that METAL, they are full on modern day warriors of steel, supported by ‘battle metal’ heroes 3 Inches of Blood who do exactly what you expect, loud, fast and high pitched. The DD come on strong with a sound that’s hard to ignore, it’s righ t up into your face, with no let up at all, full force and encompassing, they just rip through the floor and the ceiling like Vikings on a mission to mars leaving all with bruised bodies and ringing ears, the sheer sonic assault of this band has to be seen and heard to understand, especially in a smaller venue such as this. The crowd was smaller than expected, there were some technica l difficulties, the lighting guy was shite, but the kids (fans!) loved ever y minute, DD are heroes in the metal world, Dez has stuck to his guns and just not deviated from the path, one punter compared him to the legend of Ronnie James Dio, and it’s not to far from the truth, for there is an honesty to this man and his band, you don’t have to be a fan, or even like Devildriver to enjo y what they do, but if you are and you do, they just deliver, that say’s it all… Jj - 2008
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Sl av es to Gr av ity + Eight Over Nine
: Barfly: Liverpool
Once again I find myself speeding down the 53 heading straight down the Birkenhead hi rise landscape through the Cheshire backdrop and landing flat top in the middle of the capital of culture, Once again one of the UK’s best kept secrets is being let out to play. We start tonight’s proceedings with a Liverpool band called Eight Over Nine, I have their debut 2 track demo and it certainly left an impression strong enough to play them several times on my radio show (a-train: 107:6 Juice fm) alongside spinning the black circle on the death decks in the krazyhouse on the weekend, they are also nice chaps, so it was with anticipation I awaited the 1st live time with them , I needed have fuckin’ bothered! Nothing to do with the band, but shit lighting, equipment backed up on each other leaving no room to swing a cat, tied in with the worst sound I have ever heard, no guitar, vocals to loud, overpowering bass. The band told me that they had no sound check and were just making it up as they went along and it showed, so the fuckin’ soundman is a dick! EON make the best of a bad situation and by the time they hit their last song ‘Holy Water’ they have showed enough through the bad set up to ensure that I will roll into town again on may 15th when they support Roadstar at the Zanzibar in the city, and they always have a great soundman… Unsurprisingly, by the time STG hit the stage , the sound is rather better, and with a re-structure of the stage set up you can see the singer and guitarist, the bassist still plays in darkness, so the lighting has not improved. This means that the Barfly is just a shit venue… STG have recently put out a quite stunning album called ‘Scatter The Crow’ produced by the legend that is Chris Sheldon, it’s an impressive and uncompromising record that shows an emerging talent rising to the top of their game, the question was could they deliver the record live without the experience of a top producer, the answer is a resounding YES! In fact many of the songs take a lifeline all of their own, they seem to breathe more easy with the free flow of live creation, the band it has to be said are tight, really tight, they jus take the whole set and make it their own, the vocal s are crisp and clear, minimal chat and maximum music, their songs, yes they have songs! Stand up and slap you in the face, they sometimes remind me of early nineties bands like soundgarden because they have a depth and clarity and are unafraid to play the space, they don’t just go full force and expec t you to give in, they work your ears and emotions to create a feeling of true belief… When was the last time you saw a great rock band, make that ROCK band, not metal, not alternative, not indie, just Rock, like we used to have in the seventies, like we wanted to believe in almost famous, well STG are one of those bands, they are a Modern Rock band in every sense of the word, if they were American they would be playing to 1,000 people tonight, not 50, but they deser ve to, because STG are one of the best Rock bands you will see this, or any other year… Jj – 2008.
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Go od Ch ar lo tte CA1: Live rpool
‘Girls don’t like boys, Girls like cars and money!’ and you have to say that no truer words have ever been sung by a band , except to say that girls also like Goo d Charlotte, young girls too! For ther e is more skirt here tonight than pants which means the scream for me Liverpoo l question is tonight met with more of a high pitch than a growl, now I’m not one to give a fuck that this bunch are often seen as less of a rock band because of the love they get from the ladies, simply because I can live with the fact that my girl wants to fuck one or both of the Madden brothers more than she wan ts to fuck me! It’s a fact of life that rich rock stars get your girl, they get ever yone ’s fuckin’ girl, did I not just say that girls don’t like boys, they like cars and money! Rockstars have plenty of both! The great thing about Good Charlott e is that they have not just sat back on their millions and turned out the same time as last, their latest album ‘Good Mor ning Revival’ is their best yet, they open tonight’s show with a track called ‘The River’ taken from that album and it’s as ever y bit incredible as the album version, the band are smiling, just playing, just having fun doing what they have alwa ys done, Joe Strummer once sang ‘We ’re a garage band and we come from gara geland’ Good Charlotte could sing that song as a cove and it would be apt (the y don’t, they do So Lonely by The Police inste ad: It’s awesome by the way!) Good Charlotte are fun, they are a great night out with your friends, get drun k, get high, get sweaty, get lost in the crow d, lose your voice as you sing song after song like ‘Get Your Hands Off My Girl’ ‘Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous’ and my personal fave ‘Hold On’ You can’t fault this band, like Link in Park, Fall Out Boy etc they do good time , night time is the right time radio friendly rock, it’s great pissed in a club dancing like a twat and it’s just as good live in conc ert, Good Charlotte tonight showed why they are at the top of their game, they even do a couple of acoustic songs and they just add to the fact that this band still has a level to go to yet and I’m looking forward to it, a fuckin’ great night out… Jj – 2008
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Sk ins Liv e Feat Crys
tal Castles / Ladyhawke: Nation: Liverpool
Do ever get the feeling you’re too old? Well guess what I don’t, no really, it’s not that I want to stay young, but when I was in my twenties I liked older stuff & people said, hey, like music for your own age, now I’m double twenty+ people say hey, like music for your own age! I don’t get it, music is just fuckin’ music, new rock is the same as old rock, the re-invention of every genre is greete d as the nail in the coffin of all the former, but that new shit is the same as old shit & all shit is just shit! I could rant for hours, but I won’t… So Skins is a TV programme about youth gettin g high, getting wasted, getting fucked! Like it’s some new invention by the young, it’s not, sure the media coverage is greater, but they ain’t doing fuck all on skins that I did not do at 14, so here I am, like a dad at a rave and the ‘kids’ are coming in two by two and having their audition for the next series, then fucking off home, meanwhile there are some bands to be seen… We get an introduction to the funked up pop world of New Zealand hopeful Ladyhawke, their ‘back of the van’ track has been tearing up dance floors & ripping apart radio speakers for the last few weeks and on hearing more from them it’s easy to see why, it’s like Stevie (No) Nicks gone electro, it’s sassy, fun, it’s dance, it’s pop, it sounds like it’s right out of the rumrunner circa 1980 and you expect Steve Strange to fade to grey at any moment, but the fact that it has that modern day electro twist makes it brand new. The melodies that emanates from all their tracks make them a force to be taken seriou sly for the rest of the year, just as Goldfrapp went back to the spaci ous sound, Ladyhawke picked up the glam slam mantle of foot to the floor modern disco and stole the crown. Following on from that needs to be special and make no mistake Crystal Castles are special, they are punk rock, yes that’s right, 21st century punk rock, with their Atari bleeps and studio 54 poses, and they are the 5th generation of Andy Warhol 15 minutes of fame boutique. What they do is just right on the nail, these kids want it, have it and they want it now, they want to dance, they want to pose, they want to wave their glow sticks, they want to rock, do they care what the song is saying, what the vocal does, do they fuck! They want to get high, get wasted, it’s easy to see why CC are the focus of the skins tour, for they are the most prominent act of their gener ation, they are the leaders of the pack, take a look at the pictures, they are the ramones of the fucked up electro indie world, they are so right here, right now that they arrive b4 they left, they do 30 minu tes in half an hour, then they shorten the run to 20, they feel like some thing that you don’t understand, but you don’t need to, you just need to feel the need, feel the sheer power, like 64, 74, 79, like the birth of your own culture, your own ‘moment’ if you believe in the powe r of the modern era for defining moments in music, for the re-invention of youth culture, then believe in Crystal Castles, for they believe in youth and youth believes in them. I’m old, but I can remember why I felt that way when rock n’ roll came calling into my life, teddy boy, mod, rocker, punk, acid house, new rave, it’s the same as the old rave, but his time with tunes, this band have a whole album that already feels like a greatest hits, they may not be your future, they may not be mine, but they are taking the whole indie-dance-pop future and fucking it in the ass, I felt the earth move under my feet, I felt the sky tumbling down , I felt the colour of the crystal in the walls of the castle, Nation is the home of Cream, tonight the Cream rose to the Nation and re-em braced the next generation of dance culture… Welcome to (S)cre amfields!
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En jo y De st ro y CA2: Live rpool
These guys are a new band, they are young, they have a debut album, they have a song called ‘Screamer’ that’s been a mainstay on my radio show for a year, they look great, they smile, they jump, they interact, they do all the right things that a new, young band should. They have some filler toons that take the shine off the killer ones, sure they are far between but wha t they do show is a band still riding the learning curve of where they should be, they do a bowie song, it’s a great bowie song, it’s however not a great cover. I think a year on the road, some good support slots and a second album will see these guys become a great band, for now they are good and getting better, but expect muc h more and expect to be impressed by where they are right now, in a word : potential… Jj – 2008
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Tw ist ed Wh ee l Central Station: Wre xham
Twisted Wheel are from Oldham, they are the real deal, boundless energy, amazing songs that tell tales of unhinged northern life dripping with sarcastic humour and reckless desperation, they are taking their incendiary, compulsive, no holds barred live set on their first national tour, today’s stop on that tour is Wrexham. We hook up with the band at The Wall studio’s in the town, where they lay down three amazing acoustic session songs for 107:6 Juice fm’s show ‘The A-train’ the band then head off to the town, we go home to watch the footy… We get back together at 10:15 where the band for 30 minutes proceeds to prove that entire blurb on their press release is actually true. They romp through what could be one of the best albums of the year, their set sounds like one of the best records already, and that record does not exist, current seven inch hero ‘She’s A Weapon’ is still getting so many requests at the indie disco’s that they can play it twice with no sense of irony… So Twisted Wheel tonight show that if this is the beginning then they have a promising end, they deliver, simple but true, they just plug and play, there is something intrinsically British about them, I get the feeling that watching bands in dark cellars in the sixties was like this, a birth of the next chapter in great British guitar bands, enjoy them while you can… Jj – 2008
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Mindless Self In du lg en ce Manchester Academy This was the first time I’d been to a gig in the new Manchester academy sinc e it re opened, it looks clean and is a dece nt size, the guest’s area even has its own bar and the staff was friendly. The place was packed and very warm, it was a sell out gig. The queue to get in was long but went down quick fortunately. I missed most of the support, a band called Templeton Pek from Birmingham so I couldn’t say how good they were; the crowd seemed to be enjoying them immense ly. They finished at about 8.30 and Min dless Self Indulgence was on stage by 9. I've seen MSI 3 times now and neve r been disappointed, they are always enth usiastic and the between song banter is mor e than amusing, Jimmy urine is an amazing front man and great showman and such a great dancer. As soon as they entered the stage the crowd goes nuts, especially whe n Jimmy comes on, he was wearing a sheet and his boxer shorts and actually got dressed as the gig went on, and near ly falling over when he put his pants on. They brought a kid up to help sing "Fag got", he was having a ball and even took a photo of the crowd cheering him on. Lyn Z (bassist) went crowd surfing which I thought was brave of her. They played quite a few songs off the new album which wasn’t out till a coup le of days after the gig but had been up on the bands my space so most of the fans had heard them and clearly appreciated hear ing them live for the first time. Jimmy kindly blamed the crowd for his drinking and appa rently we're the reason his mom doesn’t call him anymore, shame. So all in all a grea t gig in a shiny new venue. Set List: Shut Me Up Mastermind Lights Out Stupid MF Issues 1989 Never Wanted To Dance Prescription Revenge Animal Tornado Capitol P Evening Wear Bitches What Do They Know Pay For It Faggot Planet of the Apes Straight To Video I Hate Jimmy Page B U R N M A G A Z I N E | w w w. b u r n o n l i n e . c o . u k
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