BLACK STAR RIDERS First Show In Over A Year Impresses UK Fans! [Review & Photo Gallery]

Black Star Riders are a band that everyone needs to see. The band still boasts a legendary lineup even after the departure of celebrated lead guitarist Damon Johnson last year. Black Star Riders began when members of the most recent line-up of Thin Lizzy decided to record new material, but chose not to release it under the Thin Lizzy name. Ricky Warwick as well as Scott Gorham helped found the band and both are formerly of Thin Lizzy. Drummer Chad Szeliga is well versed in the rock/metal world and has had stints in Breaking Benjamin as well as Black Label Society. Upon Damon Johnson’s departure last year he was replaced by guitarist Christian Martucci who is also the guitarist in Stone Sour. Robbie Crane is also a member of front man Ricky Warwick’s band The Fighting Hearts and also previously performed with 80’s iconic band Ratt. You can easily see this band is made up of some of the most talented veterans in music. Seeing them perform is like watching an all star team. We were lucky enough for them to grace the stage at the Bristol o2 along with support from Wayward Sons which boasts vocalist Toby Jepson who rocked in the popular 90’s band Little Angels. Direst support comes from Stone Broken the hard rocking 4 piece from right here in the UK.  Continue reading

Rock Allegiance 2018 [Review & Photo Gallery]

Skillet

Words By: Gretchen Piening & Mark Bryson | Photography By: Travis Eisenhard

This years Rock Allegiance in Camden, New Jersey was one no one wanted to miss. One full day of hard rock and brotherhood among fans. Unlike some of the other weekend long festivals Rock Allegiance gives us the chance to go all out for one day and not worrying about conserving energy for tomorrow. This years headliners made the festival even more special with Papa Roach, and Limp Bizkit leading the way followed by well-known established acts like Motionless In White, Skillet, and Bullet For My Valentine. To make things even more special we also got some bands that aren’t often seen on Danny Wimmer produced festivals like Insane Clown Posse and Gwar, regardless if you like either band there is no denying they both bring something to the stage that no other band does. Of course we can’t forget those up and coming bands that play in the heat of the day. These are the bands that in a few years will be headlining stages across the country. Some of those bands we had been looking forward to were Blacktop Mojo, Sylar, Stone Broken, Bad Flower and the Kentucky Hardcore heroes Knocked Loose. Unfortunately due to some of the bands set times overlapping and also conducting interviews we weren’t able to see every band, but we tried to see as many as possible and if you missed a performance hopefully we can clue you in on what went down.  Continue reading

Rock Allegiance 2018 Artist Showcase: STONE BROKEN

Stone Broken was formed in 2013 after one of frontman Rich Moss’ former bandmates tragically died. Almost abandoning music for 4 years, Moss would form Stone Broken with longtime friend Robyn Hancock on drums, Chris Davis on guitar, and Kieron Conway on bass. Their self-released and self-financed EP, The Crow Flies was released in 2014. They then hit the studio again with producer Romesh Dodangoda (Motörhead, Bring Me The Horizon,Twin Atlantic) to record their debut full length, All In Time. Gaining a local following their first full length, there fan base grew rapidly. With tracks like “Not Your Enemy” and “Wait For You” getting airtime on Kerrang! Radio and Planet Rock, the venues became larger and larger. Continue reading