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Do you want to winsome Headbangers Tickets.........?
E-mail your favourite (3) bands playing @ Headbangers to my address and I
will draw the winner and email them a winners confirmation on Monday 14th.
The names will be on the guest list @ the entrance.

The Guns Go Bang!! EP "Welcome To The 1610" Is out now! Available at all shows @ R30

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Event - Ride the Tiger
Venue- Boston Rock Lounge
Date – 22 January 2010
Attending Bands:
A Fate Like Yours
Guns Go Bang
Execute the Wounded
Last Man Standing

As usual, once arriving at most alternative venues, the smell of “stale booze and cigarettes” hangs in the air.  The smell of good times passed, I guess…. I’m surprised to see so many people there so early on a Friday night.  I mean, the sun is still shining! 

Upon arriving, I have a chat with Chris Richards, the young man responsible for organizing tonight’s event, and also one of Guns Go Bang’s vocalists.  He informs me of the swap-over of band members due to their one guitarist’s rather unexpected departure, and also of the surprises his band has in store for us all.  My mind starts ticking as I think to myself “How the f**k are they gonna pull this off?”  Being very close to the band, I wander off, apprehensively, and ponder over the info given to me, while finding a place to hang out where I can hear and observe (which is a major challenge since losing my glasses) the bands. 

I see the 1st band already on stage and my excitement begins to grow…

19h41 A Fate Like Yours (5 piece) begins sound check.

20:00 promptly, their set starts.  I have a personal preference for more than one vocalist, so seeing this, they already have my attention.  They announce to the slowly accumulating crowd that this is only their 10th live gig!  I think to myself, “OMG, what have I got myself into?” Yet as they continue to play, I find myself bouncing up and down like a recycled teenager.

Their music is energetic and attention grabbing, as are their two vocalists.  They remind me very much of Rebuked.  I always warm to a band that intro’s their songs, which these boys did.  Just a little under a half hour set, but yet they manage to hold their crowd’s attention, cameras popping up all over the place, proves my point. 

Screams, Grunts and growls cannot be faulted, but clean vocals need a little bit more work as there is very detectable wavering.  Vocalists blend nicely and the band works well together. I would personally like to see the guitarists liven up a little more, but I suppose they need to concentrate on their playing rather, and this will come with time and practice.  Mr. Drummer boy is dynamic and although one cannot see him, we cannot help but know he is there! 

I develop respect for bands that announce where interested parties can listen to their tracks, and they score yet another tick on my mental marking pad. Plus more bonus points for apologizing for technical glitches during their second last song, and a gold star for thanking the crowd for their support.  They ended off on a bang for Guns Go Bang scheduled to play next!  J 
(End time 20:26)

Well, well, well, anyone who knows me or has read my previous reviews, will know that Guns Go Bang can do no wrong in my eyes – like ever, and knowing that things are not going to be as they usually are for tonight and Thornfest, my heart starts racing as I walk outside to breathe in some (somewhat) fresh air and calm myself down.   I hear the first chords of “something” and knowing who is up next, I race back inside.

Just for info’s sake, the usual “who does what” in Guns Go Bang is as follows:

Chris R - vox
Lorcan - vox
Darren - bass & vox
Camo - drums
Leonard - guitar
Chris H - guitar

As previously mentioned, tonight is slightly different, you can call it an “experimental” gig and one that makes my heart beat what feels like 1000 beats per minute…

20h52 their set begins and I hear that first drum beat which is a familiar, a sound that is loved to my ears - tonight we have a change to the usual:

Chris R – vox
Camo – vox (as ex Egregore front man, no stranger to the mic)
Darren – bass & vox
Leonard – guitar
Lorcan – guitar
And the highlight of my night, filling in on drums… Adam (from …and Chaos)

Camo lets out his first growl, and although it’s not what we expect from Guns Go Bang, his voice fits naturally!  Being their first gig of the year and one I have waited for what seems like an eternity, my composed mask gives way as the happy tears begin to flow!  Honestly, I was expecting this to be a bit of an abortion, but as usual, Guns Go Bang does not disappoint!  J  They are crowd pleasers of note, with their fast, dynamic, catchy tunes! 

I have written many reviews on Guns Go Bang, and I find it extremely difficult every time, as there just aren’t words to describe their style and performance.  This band has to be seen live to be totally understood and appreciated.  Sure, their forthcoming EP will be an amazing treat, but I know no disc will ever capture the true essence of this band.  They cannot be compared to anyone.  They are unique in so many ways. 

Watching Lorcan, it’s difficult to believe that when Guns Go Bang played their 1st gig, he was their guitarist.  Now he looks very out of place as he’s used to jumping around like the Duracell bunny, and this restriction in his hands is clearly now a form of torture for this young man. Camo is clearly enjoying the escape from his drum stool and loving the spotlight which comes across in his “in your face” performance.  The rest of the band is as active and pleasing as always, but my attention is not focused on the usual front men tonight - Sorry gents, I’m sure you all know and remember, Adam is my boy!!!!  His natural rhythm captivates and moves me.

We’re in for yet another treat, as Chris calls Shilo (Execute the Wounded - who are up next) to take over Lorcan’s guitar for “Civil War!”  I cannot explain the electricity that fills the air! A moshpit breaks out that would embarrass the likes of Sepultura’s fans, which Chris congratulates after the song.  Leonard’s technical style is so apparent and gripping, and Shilo blends in well, clearly amped for his band to play.  As usual, Darren working the crowd up into a frenzy always adds to the excitement of the evening.

After the marvelous mayhem that is apparent while these young men are performing, their professionalism has to be commended.  They never forget to thank the previous band/s, announce the next ones, and thank the people that supported them and those that are important to them, and yes, including me, which has to be one of the highlights of my evening. 

Sadly their set finishes at 21h12.  While waiting for Execute the Wounded, they play the un-mastered copy of the Guns Go Bang EP, I guess making up for the short set, which with the changes, I guess was to be expected…

Donovan (www.makesomenoise.co.za ‘s own, aka ravensview) arrives with his party, and asks about the background music, and I am thrilled to hear that they seem to approve of what they are hearing, since I have done my best to describe Guns Go Bang in various emails. 

(Written by Cinz. www.MakeSomeNoise.co.za Writer and all round awesome gal! )

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Battle of the Bands – 1st Round – Cool Running’s – Fourways
 
This venue which is often used as a stop over for famous band, hits home to the feeling of what I think the whole franchise is about…. MUSIC… and what better place to launch the Battle of the Bands competition put on by Events Management team THORNROSE. 
As diligently as ever the sound was tested and in place for the bands, by “Smack Entertainment” Sound engineers, who are all round suppliers of sound and event related gigs.
  
Guns Go Bang, whom have their usual professional appearance and crowd appeal, held the audience at bay with their great growl, scream and whistle renditions of their now, readily recited and rhythmical songs, brought on by Chris and Lorcan who constantly kept the audience on the floor with their “guns go bang, guns go bang chant.
During their second bout of screaming, both Daren and Leonard on bass and guit respectively took to opposite speaker and duelled each other in motion and string work… it was fun to watch musicians having fun in their craft….


Their third rendition, tested Camo, the drummer’s technical ability to the limit… and he cam through BANGIN’an’ shinin’ from the exertion. The floor was full of fellow enthusiasts of the fine rock these boys produced, and a majority it seems were there in support of rival bands **hmmm! Interesting don’t you think?**…. Good work boys, getting the enemy to bang and mosh to your beat and bellows.
The judges all pulled their expressions of “adequately entertained” to “fucked out and rocked” when the band GGB orchestrated a giant Mosh in their penultimate tune holding everyone’s attention till they left the stage.
 
Philsky - South African Alternative Music Hub.
www.alternativemusic.co.za
 
 
Thanx
Brad

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Thornfest the Camp 2010
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Guns Go Bang! and Unforsaken Truth are confirmed to play this event with Untamed DJ's also.More details etc will follow.
Visit the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/group.php?gid=138439926937

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Unfortunately Guns Go Bang! didn't make it through to
the next round of Thornrose Battle of the Bands.
We understand it was in Fourways and many of our fans could not make the trip but thanx to those who did come through and support.
Congratulations to 'Of One Design' on going through!

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CONGRATULATIONS!!
+++++++++++++

UFT have made it into the Thornrose Battle of the Bands!!
they will be playing Black Dahlia on Thurs 5th November so make a note and be there to support!

They are also through to the Semi-finals of the
Durex Ultimate Battle which will be held in Jan 2010!
Pls still keep your SMS votes coming just incase we don't make the final we might just get there with your SMS support! Thanx

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Headbangers Bash 2

Tempos Entertainment Park – Last gig EVER!!

A more epic night I have yet to see. Headbangers Bash 2 started out relaxed.  You could grab a beer at the bar without having to wait for hours and have space around you to headbang to the bands. The music was not invasive and people could gather around and talk to each other or browse through the stores had had been set up courtesy of Metal Skull and Hard Rock Zone. 

While waiting for the bands to kick off, the undercurrent of emotions among the Tempo’s crowd grew as everyone wanted to voice their opinion of being upset at the fact that this was to be the last gig at the venue. Several bands mentioned the closing down of the popular live music venue.  

In true Northern fashion the power went out at around 18:00 and, in true South African fashion, people gathered uphased in the parking lot, listening to music from their cars, starting up little camps with beanbags and fires.  It was as if everybody knew Tempos would not fail us in its final days – no one left the venue. The organisers of Headbangers Bash handled this potentially disastrous event superbly and managed to get the bagpipe players from Haggis & Bong to walk through the parking area and entertain the crowd.  They also swiftly set up fire dancers to dazzle us with their poi and fire breathing skills.
 
When the lights came back (thank you metal gods), the whole mood had changed.  Almost every single person was in the mood to get totally raucous. The show went on picking up where it had left off. The two bands that performed when the power came back stole the limelight. …And Chaos delivered a highly energetic set, with vocalist Darren Morris climbing onto the light scaffolding and speakers whilst headbanging and belting out the well known lyrics to their famous track Wonderland.  Drum and Bagpipe band Haggis and Bong continued their parking lot set onto the High Stage where they played to a packed crowd of headbangers.

One band that caught my attention was Bile of Man. I had been hearing about this band for some time now and decided to see what all the fuss was about. What an utterly chaotic set! Bile of Man gave one of the, if not the angriest performances I have seen from a South African band. As the name implies, this band reaches some of the sickest sides of metal I have ever heard - and I mean that with one hundred percent adoration.  Bile of Man gained many fans that night, myself included.

The rest of the bands were too excellent in their performances and the vibe of the evening picked up as the crowd got drunk and disorderly: always a good thing to have amongst head-bangers. Whether they were outside car-barring because the bars got too full, stealing oranges and smoking by the jungle gyms, dancing under the thatch to the DJ’s or breaking your neck in mosh pits - everybody had a good time at Headbangers

http://www.therockfinder.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=132&Itemid=78

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This is for any of our bands fans to help them get into this competition!
Make sure you tell your friends also!

The Durex Ultimate Battle 2009

SMS VOTES!!

There is an SMS voting system for the fans who can’t attend or get to the gig.
SMS votes will be calculated at 6pm on Fri 28th Aug and added to the FLYER votes on the night. All SMS votes will be added to the WILD CARD draw too!

WILD CARD!!

There is (1) WILD CARD for the final awarded on SMS votes only. The band with the
most SMS votes will go to the final. The deadline for these votes will be Mon 1st Feb 2010.

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Sound Hole Rock Fest – Polokwane    Sat 1 Aug

And so the time had come for us to embark on our second gig out of Jo’ burg.
This time it was off to Polokwane (Pietersburg) in the Limpopo Province which was a nice 320km away straight up the N1 towards Zimbabwe……..

Off to a fresh start was never an option considering we threw a gig at Asylum the night before for the last in the Dirty Valers volumes………and most of the Members from ..and Chaos and Guns Go Bang! where there……….it was always going to be
a challenge.

We (..and Chaos and Guns Go Bang!) met at 9am ready to set off into the rainy day which was already adding to the challenge.
Having got our shit together and fuelled up, got munchie supplies and babalas juice
we where off, straight onto the N1 at Linksfield.
The trip there was long and tiring but eventually we got to the venue which was at an
Airport in a hangar. The Venue inside was awesome and well put together with great organisation but there was no electricity when we arrived and we started imaging acoustic sets and the gig being cancelled so we got all our passes and preceded to check out the accommodation just a few km’s down the road. It was fine and the showers worked over time……..now it was party time.

First up where a few local bands and they were nothing to write home about…….
We then got started onto the real stuff with Red Helen , Muddpony and Torment
setting the tone for a good night, the people were turning up from every crack, it was quite amazing that so many people from our genre/scene where in Polokwane and that they even knew the bands too….Polokwane was rocking out!!! Yeah!!

It was time for Guns Go Bang! to take to the stage and the place was filling up…..
Then it happened the party really kicked off, the band was brilliant in their execution of all their songs which just seemed to fill the people with energy. Lorcan had them clapping along to the intro while Chris squealed in delight. Darren was a bit out of place cos he had nothing to climb up or on but commanded has bass excellently. The two guitarists Lenny and Chris where as tight as a ducks ass and Camo just seemed to be playing on air. People just stood in AWE!! It was one of our finest moments and it wasn’t even in the Vale, WOW!!

L.A Cobra from Pretoria then rock ‘n rolled, sleazed and greased the crowd setting it up for…………..

…and Chaos! Just when I thought Guns Go Bang! had stolen the show they stepped up the already brilliant atmosphere and really blew the roof off the place. With definitely the biggest crowd of the night Darren once again mastered his vocals and crowd participation to the tee with the ‘wall of death’. Orry and Katz where feeding off each other with great effect and seemed to glide through their riffs while the bass and drum duo of Adan and Adam could have been playing for Pantera it was so in sinc. I myself was impressed with the whole bands stage presence.

Finishing off the show where A.O.A and Rhutz from Pretoria with all there professionalism showing through in their performances.

All the bands on the night where great and really put the finishing touches on a very successful event, thanks to them all…………..

Polokwane we will be back!!!

‘OUT OF TOWN’

…and there we were flying along the N17 towards Secunda………

It was late afternoon around 4pm when we eventually got to leave Jo’burg on our first ‘out of town’ gig! Woooohooooo!!

Arriving in Secunda just around sunset we got a little lost and saw more of the place than we really wanted to. It wasn’t a long drive but we had no supplies and the camels were calling……………!! Soon it was dark and with the industrial city of Sasol in the distance with its huge gas flames roaring into the night sky the scene was set.
We eventually found our way down a dodgy dirt road along side a small dam and arrived at ‘the Lapa’ where the event was to take place. There were several cars out the front so we parked and entered the venue.

 Coming from Jo’burg to these smaller towns one never knows what to expect and I (including several band members) were imaging the worst. We held our breathes and
stepped into the venue, which was no more than a warehouse with a bar , a stage , some tables and chairs , the sound desk area and a huge roll up door to an outside area where there were fireplaces with fires going because it was FREEZING! The toilets were in a separate building off to the side…..FREEZING!!
On first glance I was very circumspect on how this gig was going to go and if they had ever heard Guns Go Bang!  Or even Metal………………..
We moved to the bar to quench our thirst with double brandys, beer and jagermeister among others…………the booze was very cheap!!! Before we knew it like they had come from the mielie fields the place was filling up and the party was starting to take shape, YEAH!

The first band did lots of Metallica covers and a few AC/DC too……..
Then it was time for Guns Go Bang to do their thing……..

Not perturbed by the bright lights and lack of stage lighting Lorcan screamed and Chris squealed at the somewhat surprised but supportive crowd. Ripping it up with 1610 Darren was in the crowd with his guitar, Cameron and Adam from ..and Chaos doing a double drum solo with Adan and Dan seeming to be in their element just pulled the whole thing together. As soon as it had started it had finished and we were all at the bar refreshing ourselves and having a good time. Thanks to Wimpie from Skeletone and all who pitched. Secunda will never be the same……………

It was great fun to be out and away from Jo’burg and the Vale for a gig…… we will