KILBURNFLYER

Have been badly neglecting the Fleyer - it is the only way I can keep track of gig activity.

Since the summer festivals have seen:

Echo and the Bunneymey at the Palladium - absolutely first class gig - the whole of Ocean rain with an orchestra and a greatest hits set. What's not to love.

Pop Will Eat Itself at O2 Academy Islington - great fun as usual but with Clint poppy no longer with them felt a bit odd.

Volbeat at the Forum - absolutely magnificent - really got the bug for them over the summer and bought their entire back catalogue. First time I have seen them when I knew all the songs they played - Evelyn was a particular highlight - not one ofmy favourite songs but what I didn't know was that the 2nd vocalist is Mark "Barney" Greenaway from Napalm Death - he came on for that song - brilliant.

Motorhead, UK Subs and Anti Nowhere League at Hammersmith - Subs were great - indeed much better than back in the day - basically Charlie Harper and a half decent young metal band supporting him. ANL - all good but a bit going through the motions. Motorhead were back on form - they were poor at Sonisphere - and did a great set.

Hard Rock Hell V at Prestatyn - the greatest weekend of the year as usual but that down to the people not the bands - most of whom were a bit average except Girlschool, Reckless Love, Ginger Wildheart and the magnificent SSS.

Def Leppard, Motley Crue at Wembley Arena - sadly got there late and missed Steel Panther but great sets from both as usual.

GingerWildheart at the Garage Islington - exactly the same as Prestatyn - good but not great.

Saxon at Koko - fucking brilliant show. Full of energy, great setlist - well done chaps you really try hard and it shows.

KILBURNFLYER

Sonisphere was as good as last year. Slightly smaller than Download it has a much better format. With show alternating on two stages set opposite each other you never miss the main acts - whenever there is something on the main stages that doesn't take your fancy you can go to one of the smaller stages and see something else - always in the hope of discovering the completely unknown band who will headline the whole thing in 3 years time. Anyway the highs and lows for me were:

Friday

Gary Numan was surprisingly hard to dislike. Some great stuff on display and a very tight band.

Alice Cooper - starting with Schools Out always a winner and then 90 minutes throughout his back catalogue - all very good without being thrilling. Finishing with Schools Out was a bizarre decision - if you have run out of decent material (he clearly hadn't given his massive back catalogue) do a cover - don't repeat a song. Still lots of energy and showmanship which made it all worthwhile.

Saturday

Rammstein - had no idea what to expect from the headliner other than the hype about being a brilliant live band. They did not disappoint apart from the fact that they only played for 90 minutes when scheduled for 2 hours. Rarely have I seen such a tight band. Definitely on the list as a must see next time they play the UK.

Motley Crue - a few technical problems did not mar what was great fun show - did everything I wanted and a great reminder of just what a great guitar player Mick Marrs really is; even if he does look like Alice Cooper's older brother.

Anthrax - my least favourite of the big 4 but a good solid show. Joey Belladonna in fine voice.

Placebo - great start with Nancy Boy and good stage set. This lot always play well. Seems a millions years since I saw them for 5DM in a small club in Munich. F good band.

Good Charlotte and Papa Roach - both good in flashes but neither were truly memorable.

Sunday

Iron Maiden are clearly the most successful british hard rock band of the last 30 years but I found this show more than a bit dull. They rather insultingly treated the headline slot at Sonisphere - their only show in the UK this year - as just another stop on the world tour doing the same set they have been touring in the USA i.e very much only stuff from the last 10 years with, Wrathchild and Fear of the Dark apart, older material only getting an airing at the very end of the set and for the encore. A dreadful rendition of Iron Maiden to close but they made up for it with brilliant versions of Number of the Beast and Running Free. I think it is a bit sad that one of the most exciting bands I have ever seen have become so dull and overblown live. Very much like AC/DC they seem to have become too big to be truly exciting and see stadiums and festival headline slots as just another show rather than something a bit special. Headlining Download or Sonisphere should be a thank you gig for the legions of fans where they do a greatest hits set with a few newbies thrown in to keep the record company happy; not the other way round. If you want to showcase your latest material then play the O2 or Wembley Arena. They both need to strip away some of the crap and get back to what they do best.

By contrast, Iggy and the Stooges and the Cult were both absolutely magnificent. Iggy had Raw Power opening the show and a very anarchic trot through they greatest songs with I wanna be your dog and Seek and Destroy being particularly memorable.

The Cult - one of the great unrecognised guitar players has got to be Billy Duffy - the way he stands, holds the guitar and how he develops riffs are just fucking incredible. Every young wannabe rock star should have a good look at this guy as he is a lesson in how it should be done. Fire Woman was a case in point - where is builds from a slow groove to a crashing riff with Billy looking the coolest dude in the world. A greatest hits setlist with Astbury in fine voice if taking the "I look like Jim Morrison" thing a tad too far.

Slayer - I just love this band and it was a terrible shame they only got 45 minutes but they put in a good strong show. War Ensemble is always a winner and World Painted Blood is really growing on me the more I hear it.

Skindred - a great live band who seemed a bit hungover - good but not the best show I have seen them do.

Pendulum - dance rock crossover is always difficult to pull off but this lot were great. I didn't think I knew anything by them but was surprised by how much stuff I recognised. Like this, like it a lot.

All in all great fun weekend