It's A Party - The Subways Live @ The Tunnels Aberdeen

The Subways killed it at The Tunnels in Aberdeen on Friday night. Absolutely killed it. I've seen a lot of bands, and paid a lot more for tickets, and not a lot of them match the energy and talent of The Subways. They've been a favourite of mine for years, and for some reason I've never got around to actually seeing them until now. I already can't wait for the next tour.

The Tunnels is a relatively small venue, and when the dates were announced I was surprised they weren't playing somewhere bigger. But I do love a smaller gig, and to be honest they could have been playing in a pub to 10 people and still been fucking brilliant. Billy and Charlotte spent the entire set jumping and bouncing about the stage. It was obvious the band was having just as good a time as the crowd was.

The opening beats to "Oh Yeah" started and the crowd went wild. Singing along, jumping about, dancing, everyone was clearly loving life. Myself included. The set list was full of the classics, which there are a lot of, as well as including some of the songs from their up and coming album. The older material went down a total storm, and the new songs were received well.

A strange move though,"Rock & Roll Queen", one of the bands biggest and most popular songs, was played half way through the set list. Most bands save the biggest hits for the end, the encore, but then The Subways are not most bands. "Rock & Roll Queen", unsurprisingly had the crowd going mental. 

Another change from the normal gig format, there was no encore. Billy took to the mic near the end stating they think that encores are bullshit, and they were just going to play through instead. More bands should try this. It saves that whole awkward 5 minutes where everyone stands there knowing the band will be back. That and with the whole having to leave stage through the crowd in The Tunnels thing would have just been unnecessary hassle. Ending the night with "It's A Party" properly set it up for a night out after the gig, and had everyone bouncing again. 

All in all, the venue was a great choice, the crowd was decent (not the usual drunken arseholes pissing people off and that person constantly taking photos/videos of the entire thing) and The Subways were fantastic. Please come back to Aberdeen soon guys!

The new self titled album is out in February 2015, but if you pre-order it the first half is available for instant download. Head to thesubways.net for details.

And just because I love the song so much (I've been told it sounds like a description of me...) here's a video for "No Heart, No Soul."

Rock 'N' Roll Music Is The True Religion - Top 10 Bands Part 2

The second half of my top ten bands.

1. Motley Crue - I'm waiting (very impatiently) for the announcement of the UK dates of their farewell tour, something that I will not miss. As some of my friends will tell you I'm determined I will see Motley Crue before its impossible to do so, even if I have to travel further than Glasgow and go on my own, I'll be there. Celebrating their 30th anniversary last month Motley Crue are an example that good bands will last. I can't see it being 30 years down the line and people still being excited for half the music that is released today. There just not made like they used to be any more.
2. The Subways - The Subways are another band that are (according again to Twitter) finishing up a new album, so another one I'm excited for this year. And we all know with a new album comes a tour to promote it, and this time I will see them. I caught the end of Rock & Roll Queen when they were supporting AC/DC in 2009 (it wasn't my fault we were late, I blame my Dad for that one!). 
3. Seether - Seether are a relatively new discovery of mine, despite having been around since 1999 (although named Saron Gas until 2002) thanks to Spotify and their constant suggestion of new bands. The influence Nirvana and Kurt Cobain had on vocalist Shaun Morgan can be heard in their music, a couple of their songs I actually thought could have been Nirvana covers. And their cover of Careless Whisper actually makes the song sound good!
4. Motorhead - A top ten list could never be complete without Motorhead, total legends in their own right. Between Lemmy's musical talents and debauched lifestyle he is a living legend. From controversial comments like people who play the bass are failed guitarists (which is ironic since he tried and failed at playing guitar) and his reported drinking habits, if you don't know who he is go hang your head in shame then Google it. Although he has gave up his daily litre of JD for the sake of his health. His distinctive gravely voice  and Ace of Spades had become a trademark for the band. Tomorrow would have been the 5th or 6th time I'd of seen them (I lost count) but the tour was cancelled to allow Lemmy to recuperate more from his recent health problems, so get well soon Lemmy, and instead I will play the songs as loud as my laptop will let me and pretend it's live.
5. I couldn't pick a final band. I have too many favourites to decided between and it was just too hard. I would probably drive myself insane trying to finish it, and that isn't something I want to do. I can just picture myself pulling a Shining on Lisa (my flatmate) and attacking her door with an axe shouting "Here's Johnny!" Although I would probably use a cultural reference I actually knew, like "Give me your tears gypsy" or "YOLO." So heads up Lisa, when I start saying YOLO....