Music / Previews
Metal & Prog Picks: July 2023
For those of us who like it loud, it’s all gone a bit quiet as festival season kicks in – unless you fancy a trip to a Welsh mountaintop for the splendid Steelhouse fest. But the autumn gig schedule is filling up fast, with plenty of new additions to the Coming Soon list. What’s more, 2024 at the Bristol Beacon is starting to look like 1974 at the Colston Hall: Yes, Jethro Tull, 10cc, Rick Wakeman . . .
Thekla, July 3
is needed now More than ever
Here to meet your progressive metalcore needs, Illinois quintet Born of Osiris are touring their sixth album, Angel or Alien, which “[delivers] everything fans have come to expect . . . with a new sense of intensity and purpose,” enthused Kerrang!
Exchange, July 7
25 years ago, Pitchshifter could comfortably sell out the Bierkeller, but the whole metal/electronica/dance remix thing was at its peak back then and they enjoyed a fair bit of crossover appeal with the ‘alternative’ crowd. Today, they’ve Pitchdownshifted to the Exchange for what still promises to be a pretty raucous show. Indeed, they’re already advertising a bunch of ‘I survived Pitchshifter at the Exchange in Bristol’ patches for sale on the merch stand. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be any new music, but presumably we can expect all the old faves.
Thekla, July 9
. . . or Love Without Arthur Lee, if you want to be pedantic. But given that Arthur died back in 2006, his absence is excusable. Guitarist Echols is the sole remaining original member of the influential sixties psychedelicists. He’s been keeping the music alive in one form or another since 2009 and even played one of those ‘farewell’ tours, which reached the Fleece back in 2019. Rather ambitiously, this gig was originally booked into the Academy, but has now been quietly moved to the Thekla.
Gryphon, July 15
“In a parallel universe where the new Wave of British Heavy Metal happened 600 years earlier, Wytch Hazel is the discerning choice for the Plantagenet headbanger.” Who could resist that, eh? But there’s actually a lot more to this Lancashire quartet than NWOBHM, as they also take inspiration from great earlier acts, including Jethro Tull, Wishbone Ash and Uriah Heep. In contrast to their devil-worshipping peers, they’re also, uh, Christians, but don’t let that put you off. New album IV: Sacrament, is out now on Bad Omen records. Shame they’re at such a tiny venue. This show already seems to be sold out, but hopefully they’ll return to play somewhere bigger soon.
Hafod-y-Dafal Farm, Ebbw Vale, July 28-30
Alas, Bristol doesn’t have its own classic rock/metalfest, so Steelhouse is the nearest one to us. At least it’s got one of the loveliest festival sites in the UK. Indeed, its Welsh mountaintop location makes this officially the highest festival in the UK. Main headliners this year are Australian rabble-rousers Airbourne and Kentucky rockers Black Stone Cherry, who are back to play a sold-out low-key gig at the Fleece in the autumn. Other highlights on the bill include The Answer, The Vintage Caravan, Blue Pills, Kris Barras Band and Ginger Wildheart and the Sinners.
Main pic of Airbourne: Travis Shinn
COMING SOON
Here’s our essential diary of upcoming gigs that should be of interest to anyone of a rockin’ disposition.
Eyehategod, Fleece, August 15
ArcTanGent Festival: Heilung, Devin Townsend, VOLA, Cave In, Elder, Enslaved, Haken, etc., Fernhill Farm, August 16-19
Obituary, Thekla, Aug 25
Karnataka, Fleece, Sept 3
Trivium, O2 Academy, Sept 4
Hayseed Dixie, Fleece, Sept 12
Rosalie Cunningham, Chapel Arts Centre, Bath, Sept 13
Nekrogoblikon, Thekla, Sept 22
Martin Turner Ex-Wishbone Ash, Chapel Arts Centre, Bath, Sept 22
Lord of the Lost, Thekla, Sept 24
Oli Brown & the Dead Collective, Louisiana, Sept 25
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, SWX, Sept 29
Wishbone Ash, St. George’s, Oct 3
The Obsessed, Exchange, Oct 5
Black Stone Cherry, Fleece, Oct 5
Municipal Waste, Marble Factory, Oct 6
The Winery Dogs, Marble Factory, Oct 7
Jared James Nichols/DeWolff, Fleece, Oct 16
Alcest, SWX, Oct 16
Rival Sons, O2 Academy, Oct 21
The Dust Coda, Fleece, Oct 26
Employed to Serve, Exchange, Nov 1
Fear Factory, SWX, Nov 4
Elder, Fleece, Nov 7
The Raven Age, Exchange Nov 15
Focus, Fleece, Nov 16
Atreyu, SWX, Nov 20
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Fleece, Nov 21
Gong/Ozric Tentacles, O2 Academy, Nov 24
Green Lung, Thekla, Nov 26
Extreme/Living Color, O2 Academy, Dec 3
Danko Jones, Thekla, Dec 12
Rick Wakeman, Bristol Beacon, Feb 28 2024
10cc, Bristol Beacon, March 7 2024
Jethro Tull, Bristol Beacon, April 17 2024
Yes, Bristol Beacon, May 31 2024
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