Welcome to AmpedReviews.net
We have been around since 2006 and bring you the best of CD and Live reviews aswell as Interviews with bands, features and live photography! If you're interested in appearing on or writing for the website please get in contact
So, here we go again, 2007 is the 33rd year there has been a summer festival held in Bristol. According to the Ashton Court Festival website the event expects to attract 80,000 people over the weekend, “the concept of the Festival is to bring together all the creative arts produced in the city in one place; to provide an event of artistic merit and high quality entertainment that develops and engages the local community”. All sounds good, I decide to check it out.
Saturday: After sleeping in for longer than I should have I hit the road to dive the 60 something miles to the centre of Bristol, I had decided to park in the city centre and take the festival bus out to the site. Everything went to plan, despite driving through torrential weather Bristol appeared to be blessed with sunshine; perhaps the wellies can stay in the car boot after all I thought to myself!! Deciding to be kind to the organisers and to take their recommended mode of transport (the festival bus) comes at a price, £2 each way for a 10 min journey, but as they say you pay for your pleasures. Arriving at the festival it seemed slightly disorganised after pushing my way through the crowd I managed to find my way via some kind helpers to the mythical (or so it seemed at times!) production office, all wristbanded up it was time to truly enjoy the festival.
I decided to let the sound of the music tempt me towards my first band of the day. The sounds of the Madness of King George coaxed me into the Colston Hall Global Marquee. After a slow start they managed to charm a static crowd to the extent that when they had completed their set everyone was swaying and dancing to the rhythms of the old countries. The work of the Russian composers was reclaimed in Bristol on a sunny yet slightly muddy afternoon by a band with the lead member wearing wellies. I’m pretty sure it’s the first time that this type of music has been played in such footwear! They could be likened to Gogol Bordello without the hype and the need to be fake friends with Madonna. According to their website “their upbeat, cabaret klezmer is driven along by irresistible latin, ska and reggae beats. Playing traditional arrangements and original compositions, this boisterous six piece are guaranteed to unleash your inner dervish.” I completely agree, check them out and if you can make the effort to see them you will not be disappointed!
Next, I was drawn to the main stage, after waiting around for about 40 mins, another thing that the organisers didn’t really get right was the turnaround between bands L Bed Monster bounded onto the stage with the introduction from the announcer that they hail “all the way from the other side of Bristol”. Their opening few songs sound quite good, stompy singer, mellow groove and they manage to energise a crowd who don’t look as though they understand the concept of live music! These guys deserve to be huge, they are the epitome of what the Ashton Court Festival is all about, local talent.
Up next on the main stage were Hacksaw, they would only come out onto the stage to a chorus of boos! Real abuse was needed to get them onto the stage. They were accompanied onto stage by crazy dancers and a backing band called the mass kazoo orchestra! Proper rockabilly punk music sounding reminiscient of The Dead Kennedys. They attempted to connect to the crowd with a song “especially for the emo’s”. They truly channelled the spirit of punk and as they themselves state they are still going when other bands are no more. Lets hope that they are here for a long time to come yet. Hacksaw are a testament to the power of punk rock to keep people together.
Othe honourable mentions go to, Type and JB, The She Creatures, Falling Dan and Jocasta.
The next couple of hours were a bit of a blur, taking in all of the sights talking to random people. I found myself amongst people with acoustic guitars and tambourines welcoming in the glorious red sunset. As the sun finally disappeared and the stars came out the mud seemed a distant memory and the Enchanted Garden was the only place to be. As I finally stumbled home via the extortionate bus and the 60 odd miles of the M5 I was looking forward to the next day, little did I know that I had already had my best Ashton Court Festival experiences for 2007.
Sunday: Parked up in the city centre and wandered to Colston street to catch the bus to the festival, instead of a slightly rickety bus greeting me I was faced with a big group of miserable already soaked wannabe festival attendees. Already there were mutterings about the event being cancelled, surely not I thought to myself, but then the rumble of health and safety swept through the crowd and we all knew that we were not destined to go up to the Ashton Court estate today. Luckily I was standing between two geek boys who had their mobile phones plugged into the web and were able to read me a statement posted on the BBC website. So I trudged back to the car park feeling slightly silly that I was now in the centre of a city wearing wellies! Also feeling a little bit angry that the official festival bus stop did not have a sign saying that the event had been cancelled, this lack of adequate signage also led to me driving home and not realising that some of the bands had been re-scheduled for venues in the city that evening.
So on balance, Sunday was a waste of my time but it was worth it to feel the power of the Internet in the pouring rain.
To sum up the weekend it would be fair to say there were, some good bands, some awesome bands, random but friendly people and a slight rain problem, all in all a pretty good weekend if you don’t count Sunday, roll on next year! Maybe if the event is staged next year (looks doubtful due to debts and lack of confidence in the event) I can enjoy two days of music and not just the one.
Interview with Poets of the Fall
We spoke to Poets of the Fall about their new record label and the Finnish music industry. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Interview with Sean Flowerdew from Pama International
We spoke to Sean Flowerdew from Pama International about the last ten years of the band. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Interview with Mika Tauriainen from Entwine
We spoke to Mika Tauriainen from Entwine about the future of music industry. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Interview with The Winyls
We spoke to James and HC of the Winyls, the Finnish band that is said to combine exciting tunes, live mayhem, blood, sweat and tears into their music. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Interview with Larry Love of Negative
We recently spoke to Larry Love of Finnish rock band Negative, about his inspirations, their musical style and comparisons to classic rock bands. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Interview with MiMi Soya
We recently spoke to Brighton based pop rock outfit, MiMi Soya about their brand new EP 'I Can't Stand Pop Bands,' their recent success and what is still yet to come from the band. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Behinds the scenes with My Darkest Days
We recently went behind the scenes with My Darkest Days on their July 2010 tour, opening for Sick Puppies alongside It's Alive and Janus.
Mark Goodwin of Sick Puppies
We recently spoke to Mark Goodwin of Sick Puppies about Rock Prophecies, who he would like to share a stage with and what's new about their recent tour.
It's Alive
We recently spoke to It's Alive about their recent tour in support of Sick Puppies and shooting the video for their single 'Pieces.'
Tommi Thunder from Suicide Love Boat
We spoke to Tommi Thunder of Suicide Love Boat about the band’s scam tour to Germany, stolen guitars, cut fingers, lost brothers, playing drunk and many others. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Jonas Karsten from Vanity Beach
We talked to Jonas Karsten of Vanity Beach about their long-awaited second album ‘A Life of Vice’, a new line-up and producer and many other curious sidelights. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Dead Confederate
We spoke to Dead Confederate during the last day of SXSW about what they've been up to and their new album READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Burn The Fleet
We spoke to this Southampton based group about their local music scene and how they are breaking out from it. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Silent Disguise
We spoke to metal band Silent Disguise about their journey to where they are today and what is on the horizon. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Phillip Edwards from Boys With X-Ray Eyes
We spoke to drummer Phillip Edwards about the bands rise since their debut. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Gustav Wood from Young Guns
We talk to the young front man about the Kerrang! Relentless tour and what it feels like to be an unsigned band that is currently making huge waves in the rock music industry. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Lost Prophets
We talk to Lost Prophets about their new album 'The Betrayed' and their current tour of the UK READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Funeral For A Friend
We talked to Funeral For A Friend members Darran and Gavin about their new 'Greatest Hits' album and how Gavin felt about joining the band. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
Angel Ibarra from Aiden
Back in June we talked to Aiden guitarist Angel Ibarra about the new record and the recent troubles that the band have faced. READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
