LostAlone February 2013 Tour

LostAlone have announced their first headline tour of 2013, with dates ranging from the 15th to the 24th of February.

LostAlone are without a doubt one of the best British bands to ever exist. They're one of my favourite bands and I've had the pleasure of seeing them live twice and meeting them afterwards - not only are they a really amazing band, they're also awesome guys too. They put on a great show; these upcoming shows have a promised 'HUGE headline set' which I'm excited for already, despite the shows being just under 3 months away.


For the super cheap price of only £7 per ticket (not including any booking fees), you should definitely go along to one of their shows, which are happening all across the country, and check them out! Support acts have yet to be announced but if previous LostAlone tours are anything to go by, they'll be almost as good as the headlining band themselves.

I've already bought my tickets to the Leeds show on 20/02/13 - tickets can be bought at the links below:

Plymouth - www.seetickets.com
Bristol - http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/
Birmingham - www.ticketweb.co.uk
Newcastle - www.ticketweb.co.uk
Leeds - www.lunatickets.co.uk
Glasgow - www.lunatickets.co.uk
Manchester - www.kililive.com
London - www.kililive.com

These dates can also be viewed over at www.lostalone.com. Check out LostAlone here on YouTube and also on iTunes.

Song Of The Day: deadmau5 – Professional Griefers (feat. Gerard Way)

The result of what is possibly one of the unlikeliest collaborations in music between electro/dance music mogul deadmau5 and My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way, Professional Griefers is probably one of my favourite tracks of the year. If I’m being completely honest, I only listened to it because Gerard features on it and I’m a dedicated MCR fan, but I’m super glad I did listen to it because, all bias aside, the song is so good.

Not only is it a really awesome song, it has the most expensive electronic dance music video to date accompanying it. The video and it’s concept as a whole are pretty cool, but my favourite part is 4:58 simply because Gerard’s reaction reminds me of Alan Grant in Jurassic Park when he first sees the dinosaurs.

So that’s the soundtrack of my day; I hope you like it as much as I do. It can be purchased on iTunes as part of deadmau5′s latest album ‘> album title goes here <’ here.

New Mindless Self Indulgence demo

As a result of reaching $100K on their Kickstarter campaign, the electropunk rockers have released a demo of a new track.

The Kickstarter campaign acts as ransom for the new Mindless Self Indulgence record, held captive by the band – only after the $150,000 pledge has been met will the album be released. In a random act of kindness that I, along with many other MSI fans, am extremely thankful for, singer Jimmy Urine debuted a demo of an unnamed song that can be heard below:

And it’s typical Mindless Self Indulgence – even with a more evolved sound, the track (even though it’s only at demo stage) is unlike anything any other band could even dream of creating, combining an insane infusion of sounds and crazy lyrics that make up the eclectic song that only MSI could pull off. With a track like this, I can’t even begin to imagine what their new record sounds like – all I know is that it will be completely awesome and I really hope the band reach their $150K pledge because that is one album that the world needs to hear.

To release the new Mindless Self Indulgence record that’s currently being held hostage, head on over to their Kickstarter page and make a pledge, with donations ranging from a mere $1 to $5000 – fans who pledge don’t go unrewarded either, with prizes including digital downloads of the album, bassist Lynz Way’s tour shirts and having your name featured on one of the album’s song names. Basically, some of these rewards are completely once-in-a-lifetime so please go and support the band by making a pledge towards the new MSI album!

Conventional Weapons Number Two

My Chemical Romance, possibly one of the best rock bands in existence, unveiled the second set of songs from their scrapped album on Friday.

 

Conventional Weapons is its own era in the band’s discography, a post-Black Parade and pre-Danger Days secret album that fans could only have dreamed of hearing. So when guitarist Frank Iero broke the news that two songs from the record would be released per month running from October 2012 to February 2013, the whole fan base exploded.

After the release of ‘Boy Division’ and ‘Tomorrow’s Money’ last month, which are both completely phenomenal and can be purchased here, it’s safe to say that I was super excited for ‘Gun.’ and ‘AMBULANCE,’ which the band posted on their official YouTube account yesterday. Whilst the songs are no Conventional Weapons Number One (which is going to be extremely hard to match, those songs are amazing), they are definitely worth checking out, and can be heard below:

 

 

 

Both are melodic anthems boasting a sound that the band have obviously put their hearts and souls into creating; ‘AMBULANCE’ reminds me more and more of Queen every time I listen to it and ‘Gun.’ is just incredible in general, with lyrics that just beg you to sing along; it’s clear that these are the songs that led to the creation of the 15-track wonder that is ‘Danger Days,’ MCR’s most evolved sound to date. The songs that make up ‘Conventional Weapons’ so far show exactly how versatile My Chemical Romance are – the difference in the songs is almost astonishing yet all four tracks are inconceivably good, to put it mildly.

 

Conventional Weapons Number Two is now available to download on iTunes, and can currently be ordered on vinyl from the band’s official website here. Other CW merchandise and vinyl’s are available to purchase here, and more will be available to buy as the further songs are released.

 

Future track-listing and release dates from Conventional Weapons are as follows…

 

Title: Number Three

A-side: The World Is Ugly

B-side: The Light Behind Your Eyes

Release date: Tuesday, December 18, 2012
 

Title: Number Four

A-side: Kiss The Ring

B-side: Make Room!!!!

Release date: Tuesday, January 8, 2013
 

Title: Number Five

A-side: Surrender The Night

B-side: Burn Bright

Release date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013

LostAlone Christmas Show 2012

LostAlone have announced their annual hometown Christmas show, featuring some very special guests.

 

LostAlone will headline their 2012 Christmas show on 21/12/12 in their hometown of Derby alongside some of the UK’s best bands – it’s basically my dream line-up. In support of LostAlone will be Fearless Vampire Killers, Follow You Home (another two of my favourite bands) and Crushing Blows, also featuring a DJ set from Matt Stocks, resident DJ of Kerrang! Radio. This show really is going to completely phenomenal, and it’s definitely one of the best, if slightly unconventional, ways to celebrate Christmas 2012.

And if that’s not enough, after the show LostAlone hold a karaoke party, featuring singer/guitarist Steven Battelle singing ‘big diva anthems,’ as I found out after seeing the band supporting Tonight Alive in Leeds. Basically, the Christmas show is going to be all kinds of awesome. And how amazing is the poster promoting the gig!?

Tickets for what will potentially be one of the best shows you will ever go to in your entire life are a mere £10, and can be bought from www.thevictoriainnderby.co.uk/lostalone, or over the phone by calling (01332) 204873. I'm genuinely devastated that I won't be able to go, so people need to buy tickets and have a great time for me.

Kerrang! Tour 2013

Back in October, after months of anticipation, the bands and dates of the annual Kerrang! Tour for 2013 were finally announced.

And the majority of the line-up is great. Upon learning that Fearless Vampire Killers would be playing, I was ecstatic for them – I’m a huge fan of this band, so it’s amazing that they’ll finally be getting the recognition they deserve by playing to thousands of people across the UK. Whilst I can’t vouch for Chiodos, I’ve heard from a number of fairly reliable sources that they’re also worth a listen. Aussie band Tonight Alive are also an amazing addition to the tour; I was lucky enough to go along to their show at The Cockpit in Leeds on 02/10/12, and although I went to see LostAlone (one of my personal favourite bands) who were supporting Tonight Alive, I was completely blown away by them; they are fast becoming one of my favourite bands.

The only downfall of the 2013 Kerrang! Tour is the headlining band, the controversial Black Veil Brides. While I understand that BVB are insanely popular, I can’t help but think of them as the One Direction of rock music. My reasoning behind this is that there are very few people who think they’re simply OK – you either love them or you hate them; they also have an extremely supportive, though at times overprotective, fan base full of screaming (and at times, psycho) fangirls. I’m one of the people who really can’t comprehend their popularity, though they’re obviously very successful as a band, and it’s a great opportunity for them to be headlining such a tour even if they won’t always be met with a positive reaction from the crowd.

Regardless of my opinion of Black Veil Brides, for many people, the Kerrang! Tour 2013 will have a perfect line-up. I just feel as though it’s the three opening bands, Fearless Vampire Killers, Chiodos and Tonight Alive that will really make the tour one to remember.

Pre-sale tickets for the Kerrang! Tour 2013 are available exclusively at www.aloud.com and general sale tickets are also avaliable. At £16.50 and with such a wide-spread tour, it’s definitely worth going along to check out all of the bands playing, especially as they offer such a variety of sounds.

Fearless Vampire Killers – Exploding Heart Disorder video

The five-piece rock band who hail from London unveiled the video for their upcoming single, Exploding Heart Disorder.

And while it lacks the signature theatricality of the Fearless Vampire Killers, the video still manages to capture the sheer essence of the band perfectly.

Featuring the boys without their make-up and expected attire, the video has a personal edge to it, showcasing five friends doing what they love most and having the time of their lives together whilst also giving fans a glimpse into the pure energy and dedication that goes into the recording process. The video reflects the song in this way, mixing heavy riffs with soft melodies, a trademark sound of the music created by FVK. Yet this song, and its video, is unlike anything the band has ever pulled off before. Exploding Heart Disorder shows Fearless Vampire Killers at their best yet, and with such a promising journey ahead of them, the unexpected needs to be expected.

The single was released alongside ‘Palace In Flames’ as a double A-side single on November 5^th 2012 via iTunes and other good retailers. Check out Fearless Vampire Killers on Twitter here.