NICK THE BLOG - BLOG 4
Greetings music fans. I am happy to announce that Kidderminster has, at last, begun churning out some fantastic gigs and events over the past week. It looks like a massive upsurge of new and exciting music is in our area. New faces, new music, new direction and a brand new attitude. So.....time for a gig review, hope you enjoy.

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NICK THE REVIEWS

Date: 13th March 2008
Venue: Bar Ten, Kidderminster
Bands: Absinth, Hope Dies Tommorow, Malevlent Aspect
The venue BAR TEN was my first place to review. I was looking forward to this and didn't know what to expect, but I was aware that a documentary was being filmed there by Lisa Burford of Tribe Media. The place was quite busy too, a good start. Okay now first I was welcomed by the bands by them asking me to do an acoustic set (which I won't review as that would be very hard for me to talk about myself).

1st Band:ABSINTH
http://www.myspace.com/xabsinthx
After my set and a great reaction (from a kind crowd) came the first band - ABSINTH. These guys were METAL. By that I mean they were very inspired by bands such as VENOM, PANTERA, SLAYER and a hoarde of other great acts. They were in my opinion quite similiar in many ways to MEGADETH (one of my favourite metal bands). Now when a crowd likes a band it's hard to argue. This act showed a great rapport with the crowd and it was quite a show they put on indeed. Nice stuff.

2nd Band:HOPE DIES TOMMOROW
http://www.myspace.com/hopediestomorrow
I started looking around the room and the place was really filling up with people. Now I've seen this band twice before and they seem to get better each time. Cutting edge, technical and great delivery. Formerly known as SERPION, these young men are now becoming very good at their trade. Their set was full of catchy material, if you want to see something fresh then check these guys out. Most impressive. I'd spilled beer over myself applauding this band and had created a rather silly shaped stain on my chest.

Headlining band:MALEVOLENT ASPECT
http://www.myspace.com/malevolentaspectband
The headlining band and the youngest too. I saw their first gig at Kidderminster Rock Festival 2007 and now I'm happy to report that they have in a very short space of time grown musically. Everyone has to understand that when you see people so young performing in a very professional manner it means that in years to come they're going to be powerful musicians. Now I have to be honest, they are still at an early stage, but it's great to see such passion and enthusiasm for music displayed by our youth. The crowd was loving them. Can't wait to see this band grow bigger.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/weak13album/l_c7e4976a409b43036d790fcb9dd67d7f.jpg
Photo: MALEVOLENT ASPECT rocking out
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/weak13album/nickhead-1.jpg
NICK THE VERDICT:
"I had a great night out at BAR TEN and I wasn't the only one too. The film makers that came down seemed happy to have captured on film a fantastic new music revolution. I myself had captured a large amount of tomato sauce on my T-shirt after having a pizza straight after the gig"

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Date: 14th March 2008
Venue: The Sutton Arms, Kidderminster
Bands: Sons of beaches, AurA
Okay, the day after I'm at THE SUTTON ARMS in Kidderminster. Two bands tonight but what a night it was!

1st Band:SONS OF BEACHES
http://www.myspace.com/sonsofbeaches
AMAZING. That's the main word. You know although I really enjoyed the gig the day before I was not expecting to see such a class act. SONS OF BEACHES are really something else, I'd heard a lot about them but this was the first time I'd seen them. A 4-piece rock outfit and very good. Now what did it for me was the singer.....he's just a great frontman, it's not often I get blown away by a song but after hearing the first tune by them I couldn't help but notice that the singer 'Carl Wilkes' was pitch perfect and had such a fantastic rock voice. Great stage presence, he knows how to please an audience, he's got it, he knows when to talk and when not to. I mean this wasn't amature in anyway. Songs such as 'LET GO OF ME' and 'I.O.U.' really showed this band to be a future heavyweight act. A tight drummer, and to be honest all the members sounded ace. 10 out of 10 indeed! No wait....13 out of 10.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/weak13album/carlsonsofbeaches.jpg
Photo: SONS OF BEACHES singer 'Carl Wilkes'

Headlining band:AURA
http://www.myspace.com/aurarocknblues
This was the band the crowd had come to see, I could tell that most of the people here were very interested in this band and I too was curious about them. The venue was packed, now this was a very different sounding band, with a different approach to music. They did play a few covers and because of their style it made it hard to tell which were covers and which were their own material, but all the tunes were played extremely well. 'WHY CRY' sounded very QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE whilst other songs were reminiscent of VELVET REVOLVER in places. Some wonderful guitar playing by 'Jamie Guggenheim', a solid player and the jewel of the band. I think this guy is going to be a household name, I can smell it. He's got style and talent pouring out of him, I'll be very suprised if Jaime doesn't become a big star. Aura overall... you know what? Not bad. Not bad at all. It wasn't my kind of thing but as I said before, who can argue with the crowd? They loved it and that's the sign of a band that's loved. Superb work guys
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/weak13album/nickhead-1.jpg
NICK THE VERDICT:
"Two very tight bands, a packed venue, and I mean packed! Yes a great night out indeed. Loved it! There's loads more bands playing here in the weeks ahead and I think i'll be coming here again for sure"

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Date: 15th March 2008
Venue: The Hope & Anchor, Stourport
Band: ?
Okay there was a third gig I went to. However, on this occasion I was a bit drunk. After watching three gigs, three days in a row, the booze won. I know the guitarist was called Matt, and I think I heard someone say the name of the band was DILLON, but that could have been me just hearing things. The band I saw was great but I had too much to drink in order to give a good review. so very sorry to the band, better luck next time.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/weak13album/nickhead-1.jpg
NICK THE VERDICT:
"If you can go out drinking three days in a row then better you than me, I think this music reporter has reached his limit, next time i'll make it just two gigs in a row I review. BUT what a good three days and what a boost to the Wyre Forest music scene. I think things are about to get bigger....."

END OF REVIEW*************