The Band Remains The Same?

So it seems Led Zeppelin is going to return after all, but without Robert Plant. This has left (I'm sure) a lot of Zeppelin fans like myself divided on the issue. On one hand I am annoyed that Plant has denied to join Zeppelin on their reunion tour, but on the other I don't think one man should hold back possibly the world's best rock band from reuniting for their millions of fans.

Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones told the BBC that a new singer was being sought after Plant ruled himself out. NME have reported that Alter Bridge's vocalist Myles Kennedy has been rehearsing with the band lately.

Now I've heard some of Alter Bridge's stuff, and I like a couple of songs 'Find The Real' is a pretty good tune. But they have a completely different sound to that of Led Zeppelin. This of course isn't a bad thing, but if you're going to front the band then you should at least sound like them. I have a growing fear that Zeppelin are going to turn into a poor tribute version of themselves, which cannot happen! Led Zeppelin are one of the biggest and best rock n roll bands of all time, and they can't have a 'final' tour without Robert Plant.

On the other hand however this is probably the only chance that people like myself are going to have to see Led Zeppelin live before they eventually give up. If Robert Plant is not there, it is still Zeppelin in all their glory performing some of the greatest songs ever written. If Led Zep do go on tour without Robert Plant I would still try my hardest to get tickets for the nearest show, but if Plant does decide to reunite then I would even pay eBay prices for a ticket.

So whichever way this goes, I'm still going to try and go. But if Robert Plant suddenly has a change of heart and decides to go on tour with his bandmates then I will definately be there, no matter what it takes.

But as it seems Plant won't be changing his mind, here's a video of Alter Bridge doing a cover of 'Kashmir'. It's not bad, but it's not Robert Plant!

Who Knew Excel Could Be Used For This

As AC/DC are currently #1 in the album charts I thought it was fitting to post this video on here. AC/DC's "Rock N Roll Train" performed through Microsoft Excel!



To download the spreadsheet, click here: http://www.acdcrocks.com/excel/

Drugs End Dubstep Night In Lincoln

This post is just a quickie whilst it's still in my mind, and it's about dubstep in Lincoln. There is a very small following of the genre throughout the city yet certain clubs and promoters put on dubstep nights to support the niche group. I think this is great as I am a dubstep fan and a few months ago there was nothing like it in Lincoln, yet now there are many nights dedicating themselves to drum and bass/dubstep. However, people do tend to ruin things don't they? This past weekend I went to a dubstep rave at The Cell, it wasn't busy in anyone's eyes but the people there were having a great time - myself included. Due to run from 10pm through until 3am the night was sure to be good, especially with the clocks going back an hour to add an extra hour of dubstep (meaning it would technically finish at 4am). However it finished at 2:30am thanks to two guys who felt it necessary to take too much of a certain substance. I'm not completely sure what it was but I'm 99% confident I do know what it is, and it's a stupid drug. I'm not going to name it in case I'm wrong but these two men were incapable of movement besides shaking and couldn't open their eyes. They were carried out by bouncers and I'm presuming their friends, ambulances were called and the night was shut down. Annoyance ensued. DJs and fans alike were stood outside in sheer disbelief that the night had ended an hour and a half early. So we had a cigarette and went home, angry that what should have been a tremendous night of dubstep was cut short by just two careless people.

A Quick Look At wiL Francis

Now I've never been a fan of Aiden, that whole 'emo' scene wasn't really my thing. A lot of similar bands came out at the same time and they just didn't appeal to me, but each to their own and all that. However whilst flicking through this weeks issue of Kerrang! magazine it seems Mr. Francis has gone solo! Not really a big deal I suppose but I was always under the impression that lead singers from bands leave to do solo projects if the band starts to fail, but I've heard no word of this.

Nevertheless this little rant isn't about Aiden or their current status, it's about how wiL Francis has a cigarette in his hand in every single picture promoting his new album. Now I'm not ranting about him smoking as I smoke myself, it's about how he's doing it just to look 'cool'. I feel as though I can say this as I smoke, but smoking doesn't make you look cool. Anyone that smokes will tell you that, it might make you look 'hard' in front of your friends at school but not any more.

Here is what I believe to be the cover of his album Hate Culture. I found it on his myspace page and yet again he is smoking to look cool in front of his fans - and this bit is what started the rant. I smoke anywhere from 5 to 20 cigarettes a day depending on what I'm doing (which I'm OK with) but I hate seeing other people being peer pressured into smoking, it really angers me for some reason. Now if you are a fan of Aiden/wiL Francis/William Control you will more than likely be aged 13-16 and highly impressionable. So if you really like wiL and his music and see pictures of him smoking EVERYWHERE then chances are you will start yourself.

So well done Mr. Francis, in a vain attempt to look 'cool' you could in fact influence your fans to start smoking, congratulations!

Picture Reference: myspace.com/williamcontrol

14 Years In The Making...

...and who actually cares? I'm sorry but I don't think anyone is that bothered about Guns N' Roses' latest offering. Due for release in the UK on November 24th, Chinese Democracy is the much awaited new album from 'Axl and friends'. I think there would be so much more hype about this album if it was the original lineup, but sadly it's not. It's just Axl the ginger dreadlocked wonder and a band of his merry men, who aren't that talented. I've seen Axl and friends live twice (once at Download Festival and again at Nottingham Arena), and to be fair they were good...and only good. They weren't mind blowing, they were just good. The songs they performed from Chinese Democracy on the other hand were dire, just cheesy ripoffs of songs they had previously written. Not a single 'new song' stood out for me on either night, so I won't be purchasing the album.

I am confident though that it will more than likely reach #1 in the album charts, just because it's their first album in 14 years and they still have a large following. There will be a large amount of disappointment though I'm sure, Axl will never top the almighty Appetite For Destruction and he knows it. He's quite content with running his own legacy into the ground, one record at a time whilst trying to earn some money, just like a real rocker right? Wrong. Axl should have given up a long time ago. His former band members disbanded and formed Velvet Revolver who have been very successful in the music world, having two high selling albums and doing countless stadium tours all over the world. Axl on the other hand might do a tour outside of the US if you're lucky, even then he might not show up.

So overall I have to say Chinese Democracy is going to be a success for a while, until people actually listen to the tracks. It's not going to be the same experience as Appetite... or Use Your Illusion, it's going to be a mediocre attempt at a former glory. Ah well!

The Living Daylights Tear Up The Bivouac

It's another Friday night at the Bivouac in Lincoln, local bands turn up to play to their friends and local music lovers alike. However, tonight the local band seem to be friends with half of Lincoln! Outside the Bivouac well over 100 people wait outside for the 100 tickets reserved for the door whilst the people with tickets are either outside smoking or inside drinking. Not one piece of flesh is left unpierced amongst this crowd of Lincoln's finest punk followers, who are here to support Lincoln's best punk band The Living Daylights.

Tonight is their night, it's their album release show and the second date of their headlining tour. Various members of The Living Daylights and the two support acts (The Shuffle and All Idols Fall) rush up and down the stairs into the Bivouac past the crowd until the doors finally open, albeit 10 minutes late. The crowd are forced through the doors in single file and stand patiently on the stairs hoping their is enough tickets left for them to get in. "It's just like the good old days" said Bivouac owner Steve Hawkins - and indeed it was.

Filled to near bursting point the Bivouac was turned from a local music venue into a massive party. The bar is packed and the front of the stage is already full of fans for the first band of the evening, All Idols Fall. They propel themselves through a ridiculously fast paced set which gets the crowd pumped up and screaming for more punk than it is physically able to consume. Here to serve up the next dose of mayhem is The Shuffle. Sadly for the first few songs about half the crowd are downstairs still recovering from All Idols Fall, but about halfway through their set the floor is alive again with bodies flying into one another and fists pumping in the air.

Despite both support bands playing some of the best punk the Bivouac has ever seen, nothing comes close to the music and the atmosphere of The Living Daylights. As soon as they walk onto the stage the atmosphere is transformed into both a party and a true appreciation of music. All five members of The Living Daylights look pumped up and raring to go on what is essentially a celebration of their music. Powering through anthemic songs such as Maps and inciting the first major singalong of their set - Carve It Out. The highlight however was the tribute to Calum Howell through a performance of MCD's Heads Held High during which numerous friends of the band swarmed the stage, whilst the crowd screamed the lyrics as loud as humanly possible. The night comes to a close as they blast through a mind blowing Hanging On inciting the crowd into a frenzy as fans and band members alike crowd surf through until the end of the set. Not one person in the room is left disappointed, everyone is covered in sweat and has a massive smile on their face. The Living Daylights are definately the most popular punk band in this city, and will hopefully soon gain this level of popularity throughout the UK on their tour...they definately deserve it.

Photo Source: myspace.com/thelivingdaylightsuk

Bits And Pieces

A few things have caught my eye today whilst reading the latest music news on the world wide web, some much more interesting than others.

The first story is that AC/DC's latest album 'Black Ice' has been downloaded 400,000 times - illegally. As I posted a while back on this blog, AC/DC were boycotting iTunes as they didn't much care for it and didn't want fans downloading individual songs. This seems to have gone 'bellies up' as it were for the Aussie rock band as 400,000 of their fans have now obtained the album from the internet for free! I'm not saying that if the album was on iTunes then this wouldn't have happened, but it's an ironic turn of events in my opinion.

Despite not being released for another week (official release date Oct 20th), the album has been leaked onto many torrent websites. It is reported however that AC/DC's record label Sony released 'fake tracks' online to stop users downloading the album, however Torrentfreak claimed "there was no evidence of the fake tracks online".

Personally I don't care for the latest AC/DC offering, I'm quite happy with three of their golden oldies rather than some modern attempt at trying to relive their former glory. And if that many people downloaded the album for free it seems to me that they don't care enough for it to pay, so haha to you AC/DC.

The second story I saw was that Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip are doing a UK tour, of libraries! I am a huge fan of Le Sac vs Pip and think they're style of music is both surreal and superb. For anyone who hasn't heard of them, listen to them now! It's a cross between random electro beats and spoken word poetry. I've seen them live three times now and sadly the library tour isn't coming near me, but I'd love to see them on this tour. It seems such an odd concept, but at the same time suits Le Sac vs Pip quite well. The tour dates are as follows;

Walsall Library (December 5)
Lancaster Library (6)
Burnley Library (7)
Skelmersdale Library (10)
Poole Library (11)
Gray's Thurrock Library (13)
London British Library (14)

Prices are £6 a ticket, with £1 off for library members.

Picture Reference: dirtybronson.co.uk