Black Stone Cherry - Secret Session

This Black Stone Cherry acoustic set is the fourth Secret Session that I have been fortunate enough to attend and the first I've been to since Rock Radio became Real XS. It is also the first that I've been to where I was already a serious fan of the band before going to the session.

All four of Black Stone Cherry, a photo
by DavidDMuir on Flickr.

I have been a bit snowed under with work recently and it has taken me too long to get around to writing a review.In fact, it has been so long that the details have already begun to fade from my aged brain, so I'll start with the clearest abiding memory - it was outstanding!

They only played four tracks, the first of which was (I think) In my Blood and I'm pretty sure they also played Blame It On The Boom Boom as well as White Trash Millionaire but as I say, my recollection is a bit hazy so I'm willing to be corrected. Update: I have consulted with Daughter Number 3 and she assures me they only played three tracks. The second was Like I Roll and the third is described below. See told you my memory was going!

I am absolutely sure about what they finished with though - a cover of Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. It is a track I have attempted to learn to play myself as I struggle on with my guitar lessons and the band did it fairly straight. At least the did so for the first couple of sections until the music began to morph... At first, I thought they were going to segue straight into one of their own songs. But when the vocal came in, it became clear that what they had done instead was get all Black Stone Cherry-esque on Folsom Prison Blues. Rather than just doing a straight cover version of a Cash classic, what they did was take the song and make it sound like one of their own. As I describe it here, it sounds terrible but trust me, it sounded great at the time!

I have posted some of the pictures I took on Flickr but you'll see a much better set on the Real Radio XS website. (I'm fairly sure they took video of the session too, but if they have posted it online, I certainly can't find it.)

And, in the "Isn't that just the way it goes..." category, this is the first Secret Session I've been too where I already CDs by the band, so I took one along to get it signed. But it's also the first Secret Session I've been to where they weren't signing stuff, they were just posing for pictures. Curses!

To finish on a more positive note though, they seemed to be a really great bunch of chaps and handled comments and questions in almost impenetrable (to them) Galswegian accents with good humour. So thanks to all at Real XS and more importantly, thanks to Black Stone Cherry for a great acoustic set.

{Edit: This post was flagged by blogger who claim: "Your content has violated our spam policy...". I have checked their spam policy. It says: Do not spam. This may include unwanted promotional or commercial content, unwanted content that is created by an automated program, unwanted repetitive content, nonsensical content or anything that appears to be a mass solicitation." It does not contain any "promotional or commercial content" - it is a report of an event I attended. It was written by me, not "an automated program". It may be "repetitive" and "nonsensical" in places but that is down to my writing rather than anything to do with spam. I'm not sure what "mass solicitation" means but I'd be happy to edit it out if someone can point me at the offending section. Have asked for the post to be reviewed and await their judgement.}

Free Download Friday #77: Apocalyptica

Just last week, this would have been a When Musical Worlds Collide post. This week, thanks to those nice people at Rock Radio, it is a Free Download post instead because I won tickets to a Secret Session they hosted last week.

I have won tickets to Secret Sessions before (see the Secret Session tag), so I knew how they worked. There is an intimate venue, a small but select audience and a band playing a short unplugged set. This time, the band in question was Apocalyptica. If you have never heard of them, try to imagine three classically trained cellists from Finland playing Rock and Metal. Struggling to imagine it? Then have a look at this video from the band's website:

Their secret session was outstandingly good! They only played four songs, two with a vocalist and two where it was just the three cellists. The stripped back nature of the Secret Session and the intimate (i.e. small) venue allowed you to concentrate on the music and the musicianship... and both were excellent. Even the drummer sounded great and his "drums" were the box he was sitting on!out

Rock Radio videoed the event, so you can see and hear for yourself what it was like.

So when are we getting to the free download I hear you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked because when I won the invite to the secret session, I had a look around to see what I could find out about Apocalyptica. One of the things I found was, that in exchange for signing up to their newsletter, Apocalyptica are currently offering a free download of At The Gates Of Manala. So sign up, download, enjoy!

Coheed And Cambira Secret Session

Once again, thanks to Rock Radio, I won the chance to go to a Secret Session. (See Dommin Acoustic Set Review for details of my previous win.) This time, I got the chance to hear Coheed and Cambria.

This is a band I'd heard about but hadn't really heard! (I have read about them in Classic Rock Presents Prog but only heard a couple of tracks on the radio.) This was a mistake because they were excellent and I really need to track down a CD as soon as possible.

The venue seemed much busier than the last time with people packed in and many of them were going on to the gig at the ABC afterwards. The band were crowded onto the tiny stage and although they apologised for not really having rehearsed an acoustic set, they sounded excellent. The guitarist, Travis Stever was impressive and the vocalist, Claudio Sanchez, had a really interesting and distinctive voice. The bass player, Michael Todd, kept things moving along and introduced the songs. I did feel sorry for Chris Pennie, who was squished in at the end doing the best he could with a single snare drum.

As well as being impressive musicians, they seemed to be really good chaps too. For a start, after the session, they stayed for ages signing stuff and posing for pictures. I was even more impressed when I saw them outside the venue later on. Claudio got out the tour bus and was approached by fans. The minder/roadie/person who was with him tried to hurry him away but Claudio stopped and posed for the photos. Very cool! (See the photo taken by my daughter.)

A full report, with videos, has been posted on the Rock Radio site. Have a look and let me know what you think.

Dommin Acoustic Set Review

This is a long overdue review of the secret Dommin acoustic set I saw last week (see Rock Radio Win for details). I've already posted a bit of this response on the Dommin website but thought it was worth cross-posting here and expanding slightly.

Dommin live
Originally uploaded by DavidDMuir

As I said in the Rock Radio Win post, at first I didn't have any confirmation that I had won, other than hearing my name on the radio. No text. No phone call. Just a name. However, I needn't have worried because, as Billy Rankin said when he announced the winners, Lisa contacted me on Friday to tell me the time and location of the performance. It was to be in The Box in Sauchiehall Street. (I know a joke about Sauchiehall Street... but it's so bad, I probably shouldn't tell it.) I'd never been to The Box before but it turned out to be a wee narrow room with a stage at the entrance end that was just perfect for the type of gig Dommin put on.

When I arrived at the venue, there were about half a dozen people already there and we stood outside in the freezing cold for a while waiting for the doors to open. We didn't have to wait long though before they started to let us in. The problem was my pal Tom had a bit of trouble finding a parking space, so I got to the front, checked my name was on the list, but then had to wait outside for Tom to arrive. I saw pretty much everyone as they went in and, although I was worried that I'd be much older than Dommin's usual audience, that wasn't a problem for this event. (Probably says more about the demographic of Rock Radio listeners than it does about Dommin!) The Rock Radio people have posted some pictures of the event, one of which will give you an idea of the make up of the audience! (I'm the numpty in the t-shirt at the front of that photo.)

Kristofer Dommin wrote a bit on their night in Glasgow on the band's website. He said:

"The audience seemed to really enjoy it. I always feel like the acoustic performances are something special."

Speaking as one of the 30 or so people lucky enough to be invited to the acoustic set, I can confirm that it was indeed "something special"! Clearly he was worried about his voice but as far as I'm concerned he sounded great - perfect for the small venue. I loved the informal nature of it all. For example, Kristofer's reaction when he realised he hadn't plugged in his guitar for the first song, or the banter as Konstantine wrestled with the keyboard before they could start Dark Holiday. Brilliant! And it was great to speak to them afterwards. (Although the lady from Roadrunner was clearly worried that we weren't going to let them get away!)

There was a bloke who was there with a boy of about 14 (father and son I assume - see the Rock Radio photo and draw your own conclusions). My pal Tom pointed out the look on the boy's face as he walked out the venue clutching the signed card - he couldn't have looked more chuffed! Clearly a satisfied fan and the event probably confirmed him as a lifelong supporter of the band.

It was such a great night, it seems petty to make two complaints... but I'm going to do it anyway. :-) First, it was too short and second, it was a shame the bass player and drummer couldn't be there too. It should be clear therefore, since they are my only complaints, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I've posted a few photos from the event on Flickr and Rock Radio had published a few of theirs. (The last four of the Rock Radio photos are mine, - which is brilliant!)

I'm looking forward to the UK release of Dommin's album.Have you checked them out yet?

Rock Radio Win

I have done reasonably well out of Rock Radio competitions in the past although I was scunnered not to get anything out of the recent Rocktober - despite them giving away bucket loads of prizes every day.

296/365: Shaking hands with Kieron
Originally uploaded by DavidDMuir

However, yesterday I sent in a text and it was announced on air that David Muir was one of the winners of a pair of tickets to see Dommin at a secret gig next Tuesday. My only concern is that I've not had any confirmation yet... I suppose there could be more than one David Muir listening to Rock Radio.

I was aware of the name Dommin and had heard My Heart, Your Hands on the radio but didn't know much about them beyond that, so I've put myself on a crash course, for example by hitting their YouTube channel.

It has to be said, it's not the kind of stuff I usually listen to but I'm enjoying what I'm hearing and I'm really looking forward to the concert. My only concern is that they all look like they're barely out of short trousers. I fear that as a fat, baldy old man, I'll look well out of place!

Any fans of Dommin want to tell me what their best track is? What should I make sure I listen to so that I'm ready to see them live?