Now this one is going back a bit, did any of you even have a Mega Drive? Or did you grow up with a Playstation? Regardless, this could probably seem quite a strange article, among a lot of modern games with influences with music in a direct fashion, how could a 16-bit game have anything to do with it? Ladies and gents, I give you one of the many conspiracy theories in computer gaming…
Jun.21.09
It’s a little expected, but the weather has taken a turn for the better and is beating it’s way down on the fields of Great Linford. Unfortunately my band was playing a gig at noon so we missed a little bit of the festival, though the late arrival did have a couple of good sides, with New Pollution’s Warren and Sean of Anti-Vigilante getting there at the same time and I managed to catch a local legend in action, namely the irrepressible Big Laundry Bill. Saturday was a good runaround, but Sunday was pretty damn random towards the end, if you dare follow…
Jun.20.09
Waterside, our first article last year and now things have come full circle as I find myself in Great Linford once again. No problems and the weather is looking quite peachy, which is always a good start. Looking at the programme tells us that the stages have been condensed a little now with Stage 2 and the Monkey Kettle stage being the one and the same while the main stage rolls off the big bands. Admittedly, I find myself more inclined for the Monkey Kettle stage this time, it’s a little more scene orientated so I meet up with our Josh, who’s due to play in some time.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a huge fan of metal but I have a certain respect for the bands that can pull it off, it would be fair to say over the year so far a lot of new local bands that have been up on the map have centred around the genre. But a few bands that are cropping up now are trying something different, Without Consent, Graveline and Equinox being three of them and this review being on the demo of the latter. This four piece have decided to inject a bit of pop-rock into the scene and if Waterside was anything to go by, they’re being received well.
It’s been a while since I wrote a blog for blogging’s sake, but it’s now the local festival season with Togfest, Waterside, Parklife, Musik 4U, MK4U and Livezone rolling in for the summer days. In other words it’s the time when the workload get’s quite heavy as bands with demos, festival reviews, masses of photos and even the odd extra interview come flocking in. But here at AMPjam we’ve learned to play while we work!
Recently we were able to catch up with Banbury based rock group “Outraze” for an interview over email, a first for the site but it didn’t turn out too bad as the band take us through good times and the not so good with memories of Oasis, being on the run and playing in toilets while giving us a little peek at what the future holds for the band…
Just over a year ago Final Clearance had recorded an Ep called “Window Cleaners Of Amsterdam”, it was pretty much what you’d expect from such a package, a good effort that still needed refining but shown the way the band were going. Further down the line, the band have completed a fully fledged debut album under the name of “Teenage Dreamland”. Don’t be fooled by the dark cover though, this album may not be sugar-coated but it isn’t depressing either.
Some time ago I caught Embrace The Tide at the Craufurd, the set wasn’t exactly their best, they knew it, the fans knew it and we knew it. The band were capable of pushing themselves a lot further and now have a new Ep to prove it. Metalcore is the name of the game and though it’s not anything totally original within the confines of the concrete city there’s something of a poetic license to this gathering of recordings, seven tracks under the name of “Salvation”.
It seems that good old perennial metal is making a bit of a comeback in the area, something I’ve been looking forward to, there’s nothing like a slice of unadulterated rock n’ roll. With that, a familiar face has resurfaced among the concrete jungles, “Point Of Extinction” who first surfaced about four years back have returned to the fray with a bit of a different lineup and some new material. Their Ep, “Face The Day” marks their comeback as a three-track reintroduction to their sound.
Jun.06.09
Last weekend seen the kickoff for Stony Live, a celebration of local music that goes through the week, ending with Folk On The Green. Last Saturday had a few gigs on in the town, but I found myself at The Crown (also famous from being in the rather fantastic “Withnail & I”) to see a couple of bands that you’ve probably seen on the site, namely Lionsex and The Disciples Of Gonzo. The Gonzo’s headline the night with an extended set while Lionsex support after impressing the former at Monkeyvision.
