Mick Birchall Reviews

Original Site Posting: 8-Nov-2017 On a dreary and wet Saturday night in Manchester, I headed to Gulliver’s in Manchester Northern Quarter for an acoustic night of rock n roll. I have seen Matty James Cassidy a few times in the past and I have been a fan of his for a while. He makes some of the slickest sounding music I’ve heard. Being a fan of old school rock, blues and country he definitely hits all the right buttons when it comes to my music taste. I am also a big fan of acoustic jam nights. There just something so honest and pure when music is played this way. Also on this night we were treated to Golden Daggers and there was also mention of a special secret guest, who turned out to be Manchester rockers Gorilla Riot. With the room music room filled and the atmosphere electric the night began. Golden Daggers I was immediately taken back by Golden Daggers. Their music was this wonderful blend of smooth rock and grass-roots style folk with a bluesy tinge to the tunes. It was t...

Original Site Posting: 10-Sep-2017 On a dreary Thursday night in Manchester, I set off to The Ruby Lounge. I have to say I’ve always like this place as a venue. Decent sound system and usually a fun atmosphere, depending on who’s playing. Though the promoters are really good at getting consistently great shows on. On this night, German industrial-rock icons KMFDM hit the city and I could not have been more excited. These guys are the reason I got into this genre and style of music and I was really excited to hear more of the same. The whole “dance-metal” style of music always sounds good to me. I like the mix of electronica and grungy sounding metal. However, when I saw that there were four bands on the bill, I knew I was in for a bit of a long night. I know I’ve said before, but I am not a fan of four band nights (well just anymore than three is not good for me). Things always feel rushed and the crowd usually feels exhausted and defeated by the third band in. So yeah, I was pre...

Original Site Posting: 5-Jun-2017 Going into this gig was a bit of a weird experience. I really didn’t know any of the bands playing but hey, I was only in Canada for a week so I thought I’d check out a gig while I was in Toronto. The only band I was aware of was Need, as I reviewed their latest album “Hegaiamas: A Song for Freedom” earlier this year. I did look up a bit of Evergrey’s music and I really like their music, I also listened to some Seven Kingdoms on spotify on the flight over. So it was fair to say I was really looking forward to this night. It was definitely a highlight of my trip to Canada. This was a great chance to see what the metal scene in Canada was like and I was not disappointed. The fans were rearing to go, the atmosphere was truly excellent. The Mod Club Theatre itself was a really nice place with a great set up. The acoustics were pretty damn nice and the sound system sound really damn nice for the whole night. Every band brought their A game and it was ...

Original Site Posting: 21-Jun-2017 Sorry for that late posting on this one… And the the terrible photography, however, this was one wild night. Really. This was so much fun. When I saw this gig was going on, I knew I had to be there. Cancer Bats are one of those band that just bring so much energy to the stage regardless of where they are. They have such a presence and sound that gets everyone involved in the night. The other bands on also brought their A-game. Once again I will say that I’m not crazy about 4 band nights. I feel that the energy is either delayed or dies off through the gig. Here it was the former. The gig didn’t really feel like it got going until like the third band in. Still, I had a good time and I think everyone else there did too. Shock Horror These guys were on insane on the stage. Their music was tight and they had this raw energy that got people going. The crowd was a little thin at this point but there were enough people to give a good atmosphere. They were ...