Friday’s Takedown Festival line-up had set a very high bar indeed! There seemed to be a lot more people here at the start of Saturday’s festivities though, more than last year even. Higher numbers bode well for the future of the event, although it made it more important for me to plan my day and … Continue reading Festival Review: Takedown 2026 Day 2 – Portsmouth Guildhall (4th April 2026)
Author: SteveD
Musical explorer, proofreader, bookkeeper, chicken whisperer
Festival Review: Takedown 2026 Day 1 – Portsmouth Guildhall (3rd April 2026)
Portsmouth Guildhall is the perfect venue for Takedown Festival, and it really defines the meaning of a ‘takeover’ event. The main hall served as the Phil Campbell Kerrang! (PCK) Stage this year, supplemented by two smaller performance areas, one of which—The Total Rock Café Stage (TRC)—is usually the café. The press room was hidden away … Continue reading Festival Review: Takedown 2026 Day 1 – Portsmouth Guildhall (3rd April 2026)
Gig Review: Million Dead / The Meffs / The St. Pierre Snake Invasion – The Chalk, Brighton (13th December 2025)
I remember shaking hands with Frank Turner as he moved through the crowd in the Camden Underworld back in September 2005. I was congratulating him on Million Dead’s impressive performance on their Farewell Tour. I couldn’t understand why a band with so much promise and ability were splitting up; the acrimony that had built up … Continue reading Gig Review: Million Dead / The Meffs / The St. Pierre Snake Invasion – The Chalk, Brighton (13th December 2025)
Gig Review: Ozric Tentacles / System 7 – Concorde2, Brighton (28th November 2025)
Back in the mid-to-late eighties, there was a whole bunch of bands mixing up prog rock, ambient electronics, psychedelia, reggae, and other experimental sounds and effects to create proto-rave soundscapes and entertain the growing (grebo/raver/crusty) alternative subcultures. This group of ‘out-there’ innovators included the likes of Webcore, Gong, The Ullulators (who can forget the wonderful … Continue reading Gig Review: Ozric Tentacles / System 7 – Concorde2, Brighton (28th November 2025)
Steve Interviews… Franz Treichler of The Young Gods at The Garage, Highbury, London (30th October 2025)
Swiss electronic rock pioneers The Young Gods played three UK dates near the front end of their Appear Disappear Tour in 2025. Moshville Times caught up with them at the London date at The Garage (review here) and vocalist/guitarist Franz Reichler generously gave up some of his time before the show to have a chat. … Continue reading Steve Interviews… Franz Treichler of The Young Gods at The Garage, Highbury, London (30th October 2025)
Gig Review: The Young Gods – The Garage, Highbury, London (30th October 2025)
It is July 1993 and I am sitting in a field in Long Marston, near Stratford-upon-Avon, enjoying lots of great bands with my (newly acquired) girlfriend at the inaugural Phoenix Festival. Among the great and the good of hot musical talent on offer were Manic Street Preachers, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sonic Youth, and Faith … Continue reading Gig Review: The Young Gods – The Garage, Highbury, London (30th October 2025)