Monthly archives: February, 2015

Feb252015February 25, 2015November 17, 2016NoCommentby dan

Five Bands Not To Miss At Download 2015

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If you’re already on board it’s highly likely you’ll be trawling through the line-up, putting provisional plans in your head and worrying how you can make it work so that somehow you can see Andrew W.K. and all of Muse. To make that decision slightly easier, here are my top 5 acts that you CANNOT miss at Download 2015.

Slipknot, Main Stage, Friday
Against all odds they are still an absolutely enormous proposition. Their 2009 headline set was one of the best sets I’ve ever seen at any festival, ever and even if this is half as good (it won’t be) you won’t want to miss it.

Enter Shikari, Zippo Encore Stage, Friday
The genre-defying St Albans four-piece are returning to Donington with the intention to ‘upturn the furniture in your mind’. Following numerous five-star reviews of their career-best The Mindsweep, and their current UK tour, there’s every chance that will actually happen.

Body Count, Zippo Encore Stage, Saturday
There really, really is nothing like standing in a tent shouting ‘BC!!’ and ‘Body Count’ at a stage every two seconds. Give it a try this June, trust me.

Mötley Crüe, Main Stage, Sunday
Every time they play, they bring the party. Not only that but this will be your last possible chance to see Mötley Crüe at a UK festival. Seriously, they’ve signed a contract and everything so even if you’re not their biggest fan, you’ll still want to say you were there for this. Plus, if you’re close enough, you may even get a shot of Jager from Nikki Sixx who regularly dishes them out throughout the set!

King 810, third stage, Sunday
This will be the Flint mob’s biggest opportunity yet to justify the hype surrounding them. Go easy on Saturday night’s partying, you’ll need to be up early to see if they do!


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Feb162015February 16, 2015February 16, 2015NoCommentby dan

Can Royal Blood win Best British Album at the 2015 BRITs?

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Royal Blood

Originally published on the Ticketmaster blog

In the heavy rock world, 2014 was undoubtedly the year of Brighton two-piece Royal Blood. Their self-titled album is the fastest selling rock album in three years, they have worldwide sales of over half a million (250,000 in the UK alone) and they’ve broken 35 million streams on Spotify. Not bad for a band who, amazingly, don’t even have a guitarist!

But could Royal Blood actually WIN the BRIT award for Best British Album? It’s fair to say that bands this heavy have never won this crucial – and arguably the most important – category. Then again, bands this heavy don’t normally get nominated for the Mercury Music Prize – which is notorious for ignoring heavy guitars – nor do they turn up in the Live Lounge doing covers of Pharrell tunes. But Royal Blood have done just that.

So while the smart money is probably on Sam Smith, particularly as he’s just walked away with four Grammys – including their equivalent award, Record of the Year – Royal Blood has undoubtedly captured the public’s imagination over the past 12 months and could well be in with a shot. You’ve only got to look at Radio 1 moving the rock show to a primetime slot, Bring Me The Horizon headlining Wembley and the likes of Marmozets, Deaf Havana, and Mallory Knox being all over the radio, to see that the spotlight is certainly back shining on British rock music again. For the first time ever, a genuinely raw, heavy and vital rock album could stand tall at the 2015 Brit Awards. And it won’t be before time.


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