Video Rundown; Pantera, Sick Of It All, Steel Panther, Me First and Gimme Gimmes

With so much video content out there, it seemed like a good idea to bring you a selection of the music videos that have caught our attention for one reason or another.

It could be a great song, a funny video, a great representation of a particular band, or some other reason - or it could be something that you have nominated. If you have seen any good music videos online, then let us know (post a comment below, or visit the Swoj.com forums) and it could be included in a future Video Rundown.

The selection this time around is as follows:

1. Sick Of It All - Step Down

New York hardcore band Sick Of It All have been around for a long time now, over 20 years, and rank as one of the favourites of the Swoj.com team. In all their time they have continued to produce fantastic music while still loving what they do and keeping their sense of humour. We definitely recommend seeing them live if you get the chance!

This is the video for Step Down, from their Scratch the Surface album.

2. Steel Panther - Death To All But Metal

From Steel Panther's upcoming debute album Feel The Steel, this video demonstrates that as well as providing us with some old school metal, the band obviously has a good sense of humour as well!





3. Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (live)

Coming from the album of the same name, this live performance of Cowboys from Hell at Ozzfest demonstrates the quality of Pantera's performance, the intensity of their music and is a great legacy for this brilliant band. (note, swearing aside, it's definitely NSFW at 5 minutes in!)






4. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - I Believe I Can Fly

This Punk Rock cover band has covered some great songs since they formed in 1995, taking some very unlikely songs and performing them in an energetic punk manner. Some of the unusual ones include; Puff The Magic Dragon, Country Roads, Blowin' In The Wind and (Ghost) Riders In The Sky.

This cover of I Believe I Can Fly (from the album Take a Break
) is not only lively and fun, but also came with an excellent video - see if you can spot some of the cameos.





5. Static X - Black and White

With the new Terminator film coming out soon, this seems like a fitting video to show. Black and White is from the Machine album, released back in 2001, with the video themed around the title of the album and giving tribute to the Terminator.






Remember, if you have any video suggests for the next blog, post in the comments below or in the forum.

AC/DC Tour and Album

Possibly one of the most anticipated albums in years is about to be released. "Black Ice" by AC/DC is the bands first album in 8 years and is due out on the 20th October. Of course, no band as big as AC/DC releases an album with a tour to follow it up. Previous an 18 month world tour had been announced and yesterday the UK dates for the tour we announced.

Sadly, there are only 3 dates in the UK (and none of them in Scotland :( ), these are as follows:

Tuesday 14th April 2009 - London O2
Tuesday 21st April 2009 - Manchester MEN Arena
Thursday 23rd April 2009 - Birmingham LG Arena


Of course, I did say it was an 18 month world tour, so I suspect that they are doing a quick tour initially to follow the album release with a bigger tour to follow later.

Black Ice is available in both Regular and Deluxe (Collectors Edition)

The Black Crusade begins

Last night saw the Black Crusade tour kicking off in Glasgow. Would have to say, if you don't have a ticket yet and can still get one, then do it, you won't be disappointed! With Arch Enemy, Dragonforce, Trivium and the almighty Machine Head, you'd be crazy to miss it. Expect a review online soon!

The Dwarves

1 gig down, 3 to go.

The Dwarves at Glasgow's King Tuts on Friday night was a good gig. This time we were treated to a full set (all 45 minutes of it) and there was no controversy although HeWhoMustNotBeNamed at one point swung his guitar at someone in the crowd - fortunately he didn't make a connection and the roadies/security stepped in to defuse the situation.

As far as music goes it was a good night. First band The Baddies were good. My first impressions of them were they looked like The Hives but they sounded more like The Jam. Good all the same. Next up where The Elvis Suicide with mandatory sideburns. They sounded a bit like The Misfits meets The Cure. Alright if you like that kind of thing. The 3rd support band were Dangerfields from Belfast and they were cool, storming through their set of traditional 100mph rock. There's not many bands can claim to have their drummer as their frontman but The Dangerfields make the music work and their crowd rapport between songs was some of the best I've heard for a while (always like a band with a sense of humour).

And finally to The Dwarves. As always the music was fantastic: Everybodies Girl, Better Be Women, How It's Done, Like You Want...all the favourites were there and played with gusto. You just cant help but think that if they weren't so completely wild and uncontrollable they would have been snapped up by a major label and be huge by now...not that I'm saying that's what the fans or the band would want - just pointing out they have the songwriting capabilities.

Next up: Napalm Death...

Ginger live

I managed to catch my old favourite Ginger (of The Wildhearts fame) at a local venue this week and as usual, a good nights entertainment was provided. As I've said many times, I rate Ginger as the most underrated rock songwriter ever!

The night kicked off with The God Damn Whores which featured (oddly) all 4 members of Gingers band, including the man himself on bass while Jon Poole took up guitar and vocal duties, Jase Edwards (formely of Wolfsbane) was on lead guitars. Their set was good enough to convince me to part with £10 for the CD which sadly has an appalling sound mix (6/10 for the album).

RoboChrist may be the strangest band I've ever seen live, if it even was live. Think industrial metal with more than usual samples and a nutter running around stage playing a guitar I'm not convinved was switched on, occassionaly singing into a microphone I'm not convinced was swithed on. I'm yet to be convinced this was a 'live' performance!

Ginger himself was on top form, interacting with the crowd and piling through some top anthems from his back catalogue like So Into You, Supersonic Shake, Yeah Yeah Yeah, Only A Problem and 29 X The Pain. There were a good few new songs from his new solo album Yoni (out this week) which sounded good enough to justify tracking it down later this week.

If you get the chance, I'd recommend trying to catch the tour (8/10)

Iron Maiden live

The Swoj Staff were at the mighty Iron Maiden's sold out show in Glasgow on Friday night (we've only just recovered enough to tell you about it!). Opinions were mixed it has to be said. Special guests Trivium went down a storm but the headliners themselves picked a more 'controversial' set list with the first 1 hour and 20 mins being devoted entirely to promoting material from the new album which only left 35 mins (5 songs) for the old classics.

As I've written before, Maiden make no apologies for playing a lot of new material in their set because they see it as their way of staying relevant and offering the fans something different each time, and I have no problem with that. In fact probably most people dont have a problem with that when it is normally split 50/50 but I heard a lot of disgruntled fans leaving the venue and in the club later that night. Personally I thought it was fine but slightly overkill. I dont think the new album (A Matter Of Life And Death) is as great as the rock press would have you believe (an 8/10 in my books) but as always, Maiden's material sounds 10 times stronger live than it does in the studio.

Possibly detecting a note of unrest (or having picked up on it elsewhere in the tour) they have vowed to return next year and play a UK festival and play a greatest hits set. If that happens then all will be forgiven!

In case you're wondering the old classics were: Iron Maiden, Hallowed Be Thy Name, 2 Minutes To Midnight, The Evil That Men Do and Fear Of The Dark (not in order).
This led to much discussion over a couple of drinks about which favourites were missed...lads, fire away with your own personal faves that were skipped...

Long live the Barrowland Ballroom

The Swoj boys were out for a gig last night and we were delighted to be back in the Glasgow Barrowlands. Over the last couple of years a new venue has opened in Glasgow holding a similar capacity and seems to have taken a lot of business from the Barrowlands. If you ask any Glaswegian what his/her favourite concert venue is, chances are he/she will answer the Barrowlands no matter what style of music they go to see (ok maybe opera excluded!). The Swoj team have been going to this place for years and love it to bits. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolute flea pit and stinks but it has an atmosphere, layout, accoustics and just all round general vibe that is second to none, that seems to be a feature of most best gig venues (I'm sure I've heard CBGB's was disgusting in the 70's).

So it was all there last night just as we remembered it: the neon signs on approach to the building, that first sweaty smell as you walk in the door, followed by the dodgy hot dog smell upstairs next to the merchandise stall, the disgusting toilets, the perfect floor & stage layout, the crazy crowd, the flying beer, the band feeding off the crowds energy, the night getting better and better, the soaking wet floor - to that final crush to get out the doors at the top of the stairs and take a gulp of fresh air...

We wouldn't change it for anything! Here's to more gigs at the Barrowlands and it's future on the concert map!
http://www.glasgow-barrowland.com/ballroom.htm