UK Rock Scene

Ah the UK... where pretty much every trend in rock music has started. We have some high hopes for this region of the world to bring rock n roll back into the mainstream. The UK brought us the Stones and Beatles in the 60's, Glam in the 70's, Punk in the late 70's New Wave in the 80's, Metal in the mid and late 80's and somewhat of a new British Invasion in the mid-90's. The only thing they didnt really create was that nasty Grunge sound which hailed from Seattle. At that point the UK came roaring back with Bush to compete on the mighty Grunge stage.

According to the much read NME.com magazine there are tons more nerd-rock on the horizon from the UK indie scene for 2008. Its our belief that most of these bands S.U.C.K. and will fall by the wayside during this year or next. In NME's 'Sound of 2008 Top Ten' there is unfortunately not one hard rock or straight up rock n roll band to be seen!

Once again, we're scratching our heads as to when labels and radio programmers will come to the realization (perhaps by putting a nice wet cold cloth on their foreheads) that much of the public WANTS REAL ROCK!!

Cliff Claven FACT: Nickelback is a rock band and their latest CD outsold any other genre... thats right, outsold rap, hip-hop, country...EVERYTHING!!

One thing thats happening in the UK (and all over Europe for that matter) is the concept of the "rock festival". Rock festivals with old bands from the 80's as well as new and upcoming indie and undistributed bands are cropping up everywhere with massive success. This is what the industry should be paying attention to if they want to make CD sales and get people excited again. Festivals so far booked for 2008 in the UK alone include the following:

  • Glastonbudget2165487831_05c30df9c5.jpg
  • Wychwood Music
  • Isle of Wight
  • Rockness Fest
  • Glastonbury
  • Hyde Park Calling
  • T In The Park
  • Oxygen
  • Latitude
  • Guilfest
  • Truck Festival
  • Rock and Blues
  • Gig In The Park
  • Green Man Festival
  • Beautiful Days
  • V Festival UK
  • Leeds UK
  • Reading UK
  • West Fest
  • Guitarfest

That's 20 on tap for 2008 alone! What do we get here in North America? I can think of Rocklahoma, but thats about it as far as festivals this large go.

Bands To Watch Out For:

 

Kid Ego

In 2005, five guys, sick of their sleepy lives in the suburbs of York, got together to form a rock n’ roll band that could rival the greats. The band unleashed their debut album ‘Ignite The Tide’ in 2006 and in the process shotgun blasted their way past the toilet tour of the UK. Whether it was the sing-a-long tales of lust and lunacy in ‘Heartbreak Hooker’ or the riff-rocking ‘Flirting With Suicide’ the songs showed the spirit of 80s rock was far from dead. On the back of hometown shows, the band packed their bags and laid waste to every stage from Scotland to London. And when they’d done with Brit rock fans, they rolled their sleaze circus stateside and into Europe, highlights including a headline set at the Rock The Night club in Copenhagen and a now famous set at the Whiskey A Go-Go on Sunset Strip, Hollywood. After the amicable split with original vocalist at the dawn of 2006, the band returned home to recharge and ready the new era of Kid Ego. Having shared a mic with Nazareth, a stage with Hanoi Rocks and experienced the bright lights of touring across the globe it was never going be the end and soon after the split, Voodoo Six frontman Henry Rundell became the new vocal machine behind one of the fastest rising high octane rock n’ roll bands in Britain. Once described as having ‘the best voice to come out of the UK in the last ten years’ by media mogul and QuiteGreat PR honcho Pete Basset, and having shared a stage with the likes of Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper and more, Henry more than packed enough punch to take lead of Kid Ego. Which brings us to the future! Having nailed new songs, including the anthemic ‘In Dreams’ and the roof raising ‘Devil On Ya Back’, the band are ready to take their new rock show to the masses. The vocals are higher, the riffs are longer, the drumbeats echo like they’ve never done before and as the sun dawns on the new era, every aspect of the band is tighter than ever. Smearing lipstick, breaking hearts and most importantly rocking every crowd they’re gonna meet, the age of the EGO is upon us.

 

Rattlesnake Remedy:

Influenced by such rock ‘n’ roll legends as The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Free, Pantera and Black Sabbath, with a more modern sound likened to Audioslave and Velvet Revolver, Rattlesnake Remedy are a hard rock band with a passion for playing live music.

2006 saw the band recording their long awaited debut album, MAGIC MAN, encapsulating their finely honed, hi-octane, energy-fuelled live shows. It was released, to great reviews, in the UK and Ireland, on October 30th on BEM Records, distributed by Universal Music.

The first single from the album, “Drag You Down”, was released May 1st 2006 and went straight into the Radio 1 UK Rock Charts at No.4 where it remained for over 2 months.