9 posts tagged “gig”

Hot on the vapour trail of their chart-topping album 'Beautiful Machine', the finely-tuned rhythm-and-power unit Shihad are thrilled to announce a return home for a national tour in July.

The 'Beautiful Machine' Tour will see the group play six cities across New Zealand.

Those who missed the band's triumphant headline slot at April's Homegrown Festival now have another chance to experience Shihad in what is fast shaping up to be the groups' most successful and unforgettable year so far.

Support acts on all tour dates will be ex-pat heroes The Mint Chicks, returning from Portland, Oregon for their second NZ visit of 2008; and Luger Boa, the hard-hitting new act formed by Jimmy Xmas, formerly of the D4.

All shows will be MC'ed by Mr Dai Henwood, of TV's C4

As Maiden isn't coming to New Zealand, I have no choice and go to Australia... At first it didn't look good but I finally managed to score a good deal on a flight to Sydney... YAH... Unfortunately all the standing tickets for the gig were already sold out so I had to go for the gold seated ones. Still an awesome ticket that allows me to see Eddie and the boys live down under!!!! A perfect start of 2008. Rock on!

A bit disappointing because there still isn't a NZ date... But there is hope as gigs are being scheduled before the Ozzie dates, which were orignally the opening shows. So let's keep our fingers crossed & do all we can to BRING IRON MAIDEN TO NEW ZEALAND!!

February
Fri 1st - Mumbai, India - Bandra Kurla Complex
Mon 4th - Perth, Australia - Burswood Dome
Wed 6th - Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena
Thu 7th - Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena
Sat 9th - Sydney, Australia - Acer Arena
Sun 10th - Sydney, Australia - Acer Arena
Tue 12th - Brisbane, Australia - Entertainment Centre
Fri 15th - Yokohama, Japan - Pacifico Yokohama
Sat 16th - Tokyo, Japan - Messe
Tue 19th - Los Angeles, USA -The Forum
Thu 21st - Guadalajara, Mexico - Auditoria Telmex
Fri 22nd - Monterrey, Mexico - Arena Monterrey
Sun 24th - Mexico City, Mexico - Sports Palace
Tue 26th - San Jose, Costa Rica - Saprisa Stadium
Thu 28th - Bogota, Columbia - Simon Bolivar Park 

Wednesday 3 October was the day the anti-Christ aka Marilyn Manson came to Auckland for a gig in the Town Hall. As the Town Hall is a nice small venue it was a gig I was really looking forward to. I’m not a huge Manson fan (like the songs and saw them live in the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam once) but seeing them play for around 1500 people is an interesting experience.

First impression of the venue is very positive… It reminded me of Paradiso in Amsterdam, same look and feel and same vibe. Missed the opening band (Die Die Die) though as it took a while for 1500 people to go through one small door to enter the venue (and I hate queuing so I waited a while).

As soon as the intermission music switched to The Prodigy’s ‘Smack my bitch up’ and the volume was turned you instantly knew it was almost Manson time. Just a few more minutes…. And there was the band. As I said I’m not a huge Manson fan (only know the old stuff) so have no idea what the opening song was. :-)

And then the party began… Very excited crowd. Within a few minutes I had a perfect spot in the mosh pit. Unfortunately the tiny Kiwi girls aren’t used to real rock gigs yet so every once in a while they gave a dirty look because I was standing/dancing in their spot. HAHAHA.

It was hot, everyone was sweaty so it was a great party… Unfortunately the show was stopped after just 5 songs and we were told to leave the venue. What the F???? A fire alarm? Again? Also happened during my previous gig (Dio with Black Sabbath). What’s going on here in Auckland. It was a weird situation… Everyone was confused (including the venue staff) and as soon as part of the crowd was outside the doors were closed. Within 2 minutes they opened again and we could enter again. So the battle for position began again. :-)

This time I was all the way in the front… Only lasted there for a few songs as everyone was pushing and there was no room to move. A few rows back in the mosh pit is so much more fun. It definitely was a great night. They played songs like…

• ‘Beautiful People’
• ' Rock is Dead’
• ‘The Dope Show’

"IRON MAIDEN announce their most ambitious and extraordinary touring plans ever -- and are very pleased to announce that this will include Australia for the first time in 15 years!

The 'SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME' World Tour 2008 will be in three sections, starting in February and March 2008 with the first leg encompassing major concerts in 20 selected cities on five continents in seven weeks including India, Japan, North America, Central and South America, and, of course, Australia, opening in Perth on Feb 4 and continuing through Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane."

Great news for the Ozzies.... But not for the Kiwis. At this moment there is still no date set for a gig in New Zealand. Please sign the petition and help us bringing Iron Maiden to NZ. And don't forget, it worked for The Cure so why shouldn't it work for Maiden. Thanks.

Update 1 October 2007: Already 6 gigs in Australia....

Date			City, ST		Venue
Mon	02/04/08		Perth, AUS		Burswood Dome
Wed	02/06/08		Melbourne, AUS		Rod Laver Arena
Thu	02/07/08		Melbourne, AUS		Rod Laver Arena
Sat	02/09/08		Sydney, AUS		Acer Arena
Sun	02/10/08		Sydney, AUS		Acer Arena
Tue	02/12/08		Brisbane, AUS		Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Saturday 8 September was the day I finally got the chance to see rock band Autumn again... As they never tour my part of the world :-( I had to be in their part of the world. :-) The place to be was The Hague in lovely The Netherlands and the venue was called 'Paard van Troje', which is a great place for gigs. The big room holds 1100 people and the small one 300. Perfect for small and intimate gigs. Autumn played the small room.

Although the band changed a few members in the last year the new CD still has the Autumn sound. The only difference is the shift from fantasy lyrics (fairytales, witches etc) to more personal lyrics (relationships, love etc). So the big question was, how will it sound live????

Unfortunately only a few people turned up: 50 max so the gig was even more small and intimate. But the sound was awesome.... They still can rock. The singer (Nienke) has a great voice and is perfect for this band and this music. Although the sound was a bit different from what I remember from the last time (almost 2 years ago) it was a great gig. The new songs sounded good live and the old stuff sounded great.

The big surprise was a cover of 'A View to a Kill' (by Duran Duran and not AHA as one dick head in the audience said). Awesome to hear that 80s classic in a more heavy rock version. And for those of you who want to know what Autumn sounds like... Check out this great live clip.

All in all I was happy to see Autumn live in The Hague. I can imagine that for the band it probably was annoying that only 50 people showed up but for us as audience it was a great show. Thanks guys (and girl) for making my day and reminding me how great the Dutch (hard/gothic/metal) rock scene is. Plus I discovered a new band Annatar.... Well new to me. The CD was for sale and for some reason it appealed to me so I bought it without hearing the music. Great choice... And this Thursday I will see them live (so happy they have one gig nearby before I leave NL again). So more to come on them soon...

Black Sabbath: Heaven & Hell (the Dio years) played Auckland's Logan Campbell Centre (capacity: 3,000) last night... And it was f-ing AWESOME. The Heaven & Hell line-up is one Sabbath line-up I've never seen as it was before my time the first time around and the second time during Dehumanizer I wasn't interested (yep we all make mistakes :-)). But as die-hard Dio fan you just have to see it....

And yesterday was the day. One gig in NZ, the last of the tour.... From the get go there was a burst of energy that never went away. Dio's voice was amazing (as usual), Vinnie was wicked on his mega drum kit, Tomy was cool in leather jacket and hippie blue sunglasses, and Geezer... Well Geezer was Geezer.

Almost all classics were played...

• Heaven & Hell (duh)
• Die Young (still one of my favourites)
• Mob Rules
• Sign of the Southern Cross
• Computer God
  
• etc etc etc

All in all, it was a wicked concert and so worth the money...

Wow, this is an amazing day.... A few days after publishing my NZ gig wish list, the first one is already heading to this part of the world....