Best of 2009 ?

As there are not many gigs around at the moment, and we have cyberspace pages to fill, we asked our regular contributors for their favourites of 2009 :  Got your own or disagree? then add a comment or drop us an email.

NH - Nigel Hull - Reviews Editor (oop north) :

1. Joe Bonamassa - Who Killed John Henry
2. Europe - Last Look at Eden
3. The Answer - Everyday Demons
4. Saxon - Into the Labryrinth
5. Chickenfoot

Gigs - Difficult - how do you compare U2 with GMT ? I've tried to look at the whole night out, Value for Money etc...

1. GMT - Swindon Great gig, the sound had been awful at Wakefield the week before. sound and view great at Swindon. not many gigs where the drummer stands with you during the solo. And met all the band after the gig,
2. Joe Bonamassa - Sheffield. great seats great gig, met Oli brown
3. GMT - Yeadon Bernie Torme in a Pub!!!! Ok I struggled to see but the sound was great, the band loved every minute of it. one of those "once in a lifetime" type nights
4. AC/DC - Wembley let down by a Thin Lizzy no show. great gig but price knocks it down the list also seats a bit high up.
5. Saxon / Doro - Sheffield A blond german that can sing metal seems a good start to me. Saxon back to their best on decent size stage. 
   
6. U2 - Sheffield the whole stage show was awsome, if it had been cheeper it would have higher.

ME - Mark Evans - Reviews Editor (darn sarf) 

1. Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver linings
2. Winger - Karma
3. W.E.T.
4. Europe - Last Look at Eden
5. Chickenfoot

DVD:

1. Iron Maiden - Flight 666
2. Metallica Orgulla,Pasion y Gloria  ..and ...
   
3. ...One Night In France (One stadium show, one in the round in a roman ampitheater both fantastic)
4.  Journey Live In Manila
5.  Thunder at Hammy O(last gig)

Gigs:

1. Chickenfoot...
2. ..followed by AC/DC an unbeatable 24 hours!
3. Mr Big
4. Europe at the Restless Garage
5. Thunder at Hammy O(last gig)
   

Special mention to Threshold. On musical ability way up there,  but as the crowd was only 200ish the vibe was nowhere near the other gigs.

My highlight of the year was the interview with the marvellous Danny Vaughn for this website!

AS for 2010 gigs lined up include Europe,Trivium,Winger,Bad Company and Kiss. Music to look out for the return of FM ,Giant, The Scorpions, AC/DC live dvd and maybe the new studio cd from Iron Maiden. Might be a strange year this one. A lot of the heavy hitters have released cd's n the last 18 months. So maybe a few smaller surprises to come.

Shazz - Sharon Evans - Reviews Editor's better half, Coverdale groupie and Dropbox expert

Gigs:

1. Metallica
2. AC/DC
3. Nickelback (1st gig for Dan)
4. Dream Theater
5. Black Stone Cherry

NR - Nige Robins - Editor in Chief. 

1. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
2. Chickenfoot
3. Blackberry Smoke - Little Piece of Dixie  - Southern rock is BACK!
4. Shinedown - The Sound of Madness
5. Europe - Last Look at Eden
6. Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings
7. Cheap Trick - The Latest
   

Special mention for the Joe Bonamassa, The Answer and Duff McKagen's Loaded albums too.


Gigs: Not too many gigs for me this year - 

1. Green Day. Absolutely magnificent gig. Excellent songs, atmosphere, stage show..
   
2. Chickenfoot. a real fun gig with no fancy gimmicks just pure showmanship and skilll
   
3. Black Stone Cherry Never fail to deliver - last time we see them in a small venue?
   
4. The Answer First time I've seen these guys live - good old fashioned rock n roll at it's best.
   
5. Australian Pink Floyd do "The Wall"  The closest thing you will get to seeing Floyd these days. The steep ticket price for a tribute act is well worth it You get all the usual Floyd bells and whistles.

2010 ? I reckon this will be the year that pink fluffy melodic rock makes a comeback in the UK. Journey are high in the charts thanks to X-Factor. A couple of new movies I saw over Xmas had REO Speedwagon and Kansas soundtracks ..  and with Giant and FM  on the verge of new albums.... get ready for the year of the Power Ballad.  STOP PRESS: Boston on a Barclaycard ad?  See it's coming people.. it's comin' !! - ED

Creed - Live DVD

I could start this review by saying what a big fan of Creed I am, how I’ve been looking forward to watching this DVD etc. I could, but I think I’d soon be found out so I’ll be honest and say though I’d heard of Creed I’d never listened to any of their material before this DVD. In one sense I think this means I can give a really truthful review -  that is not seen simply as “a fans” through rose tinted glasses.

I also have to say that I have a bit of love/hate affair with rock DVDs. Some are awful, a few so so and a very few excellent. Rush - in Rio, and Whitesnake – Live in the Still of the Night come straight to my mind and one thing links them and this Creed DVD, and that is Daniel E. Catullo III (Producer/Director). When I saw his name on the credits I thought I may be in for treat.

This DVD oozes quality from start to finish, the sound is top draw and the picture quality is excellent. There are plenty of great camera angles from the world record breaking 239 cameras. I loved it. The excitement and energy of the show is captured and transferred through your TV to you, the viewer.

A few of tracks I picked out as personal favorites were Never Die, What If and Unforgiven.  There are also bonus features of a photo gallery, interviews and a documentary of the band’s reunion.

I would recommend this DVD to any rock music fan and if you are true Creed fan you may wish to get the deluxe edition, which is released in early 2010, with full “Big Freeze” technology, a bonus live CD, Poster and T shirt.

NH

Tygers of Pan Tang - 30th Anniversary of Wildcat

2010 will see the Tygers of Pan Tang celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the `Wildcat` album, the bands first and most iconic recording. The album was released during the hay-day of the NWOBHM movement and captures the real spirit of the music scene in the UK in 1980. The band at the time was a young four piece and after charting in the UK top forty albums at No 15 this album proved to be the springboard for three more albums in two years with various line ups until the band decided to disband in 1983. Robb Weir who originally formed the band in 1978 has resurrected the Tygers with a new line up culminating in the release of the album `Animal Instinct` in 2008 to worldwide critical acclaim. As `Wildcat` is very close to Robb's heart we have decided to pick his top five tracks and re-record these to celebrate and remind the fans of the quality of the album which may have been long forgotten.  The songs will be re-arranged to utilise modern technology and recorded by the 2010 line up which is:- Rob Weir - Guitars Dean Robertson - Guitars Brian West - Bass Craig Ellis - Drums Jacopo Meille - Vocals  The song to be included are:- Euthanasia Slaves to Freedom Suzy Smiled Don't Touch Me There Wildcat      The Five track EP will be recorded late January and be available for pre-sale exclusively from the Tygers website/shop in February www.tygersofpantang.com  We expect to dispatch the EP to buyers in early March 2010 This will be a Limited Edition of 1000 copies, have new artwork and will only be available from the website and Live shows. We will also be looking at some commemorative Shirts which will also be sold via the website from March onwards. For all enquiries please contact the Tygers of Pan Tang via the website contact page. Thank you for your continued support as always Tygers