London Calling Top 10 2011

Its that time of year again, when we try and piece together what has happened in the past year. So, we did what we could, and here goes.. introducing the top 10 things about 2011.

1. All dayer: No Redeeming Social Value at the JZE in Essen

The JZE was one of the best venues in Germany. Location was perfect (accessible from all over Europe), and the layout of the venue even more so.. When the announcement was made that it was to shut down, the entire hardcore community of Europe mourned. 17 Stitches gave us all a chance to say goodbye to the venue with a bang.. inviting one of the biggest party hardcore bands around, covering the outside area with sand and seeing it out with a bang. Best all dayer, by far.

2. New Band: Xibalba

When Beatdown Hardwear records released the Xibalba split, the hype that followed was phenomenal. With nearly every European hardcore kid linking their songs to their facebook walls, the band soon announced a European tour (which unfortunately did not hit the UK). Mixing elements of slow, sludgy metal with late 90s hardcore bands, the band create the perfect sound and are even more incredible live. Check out their video for “Cold” here and lookout for their European tour in Summer 2012.

3. All Dayer: Damage Control @ the Jamm Bar, May

Rucktion do it again with a massive line up showcasing the best bands on the label and bringing over London favourites Wisdom in Chains for a one off appearance. The best atmosphere. The best line up. We are looking forward to 2012s edition.

4. Venue of the year: 12bar

Consistantly, the Rucktion/12bar shows have been the highlight of the month with awesome line ups and awesome hangouts. Rucktion all dayers are the first saturday of every month. Go to www.rucktion.com for details

A big thanks to Rucktion record for doing this.

5. Joke of the year: How fast news travels within the hardcore scene.

Before the travelling hardcore kids from the UK had returned from Germany, they were already receiving text from America asking what had happened at Bringing Back The Glory in March. Marcel from FallBrawl got into an altercation with the members of Trapped Under Ice and it spread amongst the worldwide hardcore community like wildfire. Within hours, every TUI fan knew about it. People took sides, and TUI were told that they were no longer welcome in the ruhrpott area of Germany... Attendees of the fest should have kept quiet and seen how big the rumour got.

6. Album: Deathskulls- Real Deal 2 (Rucktion Records)

Bias aside, the Deathskulls are one of the best, and sadly most underrated hardcore bands to come out of the UK. Real Deal 2 contains 15 tracks of pure anger.Check them out here: www.myspace.com/deathskulls

7. New Band: Tirade

When you mix members of popular London hardcore bands, Ninebar and Injury Time, you know the result is going to be good.. check out their demo here.

8. Show: Knuckledusts 15th Anniversary, October, 12bar

Londons finest celebrated 15 years with a show at the 12bar in October. Both old and new faces came together for the hottest, sweatiest gig of the year. The band played both newer and old songs (including “Ill Vision”!). Keep a lookout for the DVD of the show that is to be released soon.

9. Festival: Ieperfest

This festival remains in the top 10 with highlights this year including marvellous sets from Blood For Blood, Strife, Sheer Terror (“Lady, that is NOT a burger!!”) and Xibalba. Event the rain and horrible Belgian weather couldn’t put a downer on the proceedings!

10. New Band: Incendiary

Whilst they may not be "new", Incendiary are hitting the UK early next year for the first time. The band are a mixture of old 90s tough bands like Merauder and All Out War. Absolutely incredible on record .. Have a listen on their Myspace page.

Honorable mentions go out to:

-SoSF Benefit show- When 17 Stitches cancelled Brotherhood fest, a group of hardcore dudes from essen saved the day. Salvaging what they could, they put on an outside show, complete with sand, for the travelling bands and fans. A ton of fun despite the rain!

- Death Threat at the JZE in Essen, May- One of the best hardcore bands around and one of the funnest shows.

- Grappler- Great live band. Check them out!

- Descendents being true to their word and totally redeeming themselves by putting on a free show for the car crash that was the first in London in Feb.

- Set Your Goals at the Underworld- This is the perfect venue for this band.. Hot, sweaty, awesome.

- Sick of It all- NonStop- Rerecording their classic songs, and then putting “the story so far” onto DVD? We are truly reminded why they are the best band in the world. Out now on Century Media

- Angels and Airwaves at the forum, Feb- Whilst we are well aware that they are not a hardcore band, this was the best show we attended in 2011.

- Ninebar 900: We havent had a chance to hear the new album yet but what we have heard live sounds absolutely killer.

Ninebar release a new album!

Londons finest, Ninebar, have released their latest album, 900, on rucktion records (click the link to buy!). It promises to be one of the leading releases of the year. I am sure we can all agree that the album has the best cover, possibly, ever:

Sheer Terror to hit the uk!

Sheer Terror will be hitting UK shores for the first time in early 2012. The band, who formed in 1984, have sporadically played a string of reunion shows around the world, including Antwerp the past January and will be doing three shows on the mainland over the summer.

The UK shows will be the smallest shows in Europe to date, with the Old Blue Last holding only 120 punters.

Tickets are selling fast, with over half for both Bristol and London selling in under a week so it is advisable that should you plan on attending these shows, tickets should be purchased in advance.

More information for the Bristol show, including how to get tickets, can be located here:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=228357157176961

More information for the London show, including how to get tickets, can be located here:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207312595972743

Both Travelodge in London and in Bristol currently have rooms for £29 for these dates. Especially for a Saturday night in London, this price is quite unheard of. It is recommended that you book these rooms now as they will no longer be available in the next couple of months.

Travelodge website:

http://www.travelodge.co.uk

For Londonites planning to travel to the Bristol show, cheap train tickets, national express funfare coach tickets and megabus tickets are all released 12 weeks before the event.

And finally, Sheer Terror have released a new song on Facebook: Have a listen!

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=222782754407096&comments

Brotherhood Fest Tickets from the UK!

It has come to that time of the year again. I am the official seller of Brotherhood Fest (formerly known as Filled With Hate fest) tickets in the UK.

The festival is happening on the 6th and 7th August 2011 in Essen, Germany, at the new JZE venue.

The line up is absolutely tremendous and includes one of Shattered Realms 10 year Anniversary shows, the return of the tremendous Death Before Dishonor and Londons favourites, Wisdom in Chains, to name a few. Full details of the line up are on the website (linked above) or on the flyer.

So here is the deal:

Presale weekend tickets are onsale now here in the UK:

Tickets will be priced at £47.50 in person and £51.50 posted (to cover postage, packaging and Paypal fees).


I will be selling tickets at various London hardcore shows in the upcoming months. If you would like to purchase a ticket, PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST at londoncalling@gmx.com. You will need to check whether I will be attending particular shows as I will not be carrying the book of tickets around London with me, so will need to know how many tickets you would like me to bring.
In regards to posting the tickets, all tickets will be sent via recorded delivery. I will be making a couple of bulk posts a week, as I have a full time job. Each envelope will have a tracking number, and will also NEED A SIGNATURE.

If you would like your tickets posted, please click on the button below STATING AN ADDRESS WHERE SOMEONE WILL BE THERE TO SIGN FOR THE TICKETS

London Calling, the website

London calling loves to let you know whats going on. Whilst the blog (AKA the main website) is not updated as much as I would like it to be, the pages linked to London Calling are updated regularly.

LDNLove, the London hardcore events page, has recently moved from Myspace to a new, smoother, slicker and more simple site which can be located here:

LDNLove

The twitter page is the most up to date page.. with constant, to the minute updates about what is going on.. and reminders of shows happening, its the best place to find out whats what:

LDNLove Twitter

London Calling on facebook has had to close down. Facebook changed the group format, which makes it massively annoying.. many emails that you don’t want when people post status’s on the wall, and generally a pretty confusing format.

So, i have come up with a couple of solutions:

Mass email- In this day and age, no one is every really very far from an email account. Whether at work or on your phone, sign up to the London Calling mailing list.. We promise not to send you more than one email a month (unless something super important is happening). Anyone that was a member of the London Calling facebook group will know that the personalised messages were sporadic and only contained super important information. This will be along the same lines, so no boring spam in your inbox from us. I will be sending the first email out in a couple of weeks so sign up and keep an eye out for it J

To sign up, either fill in the widget on the menu on the right or please go to: Sign up page

Making better use of the messageboard: The London calling messageboard is located here: http://www.londoncalling.cjb.net. It takes less than 2 mins to sign up and you can post about shows and anything you used the London calling wall to post about, there!

Thats it for now folks!

Damage Control Returns!!

Bank Holiday weekend has just become awesome again.

After a very short hiatus, Damage Control Festival returns to Jamm Bar in Brixton. Rucktion records gives us a phenomenal line up featuring the best bands on the label (and in the UK), including Knuckledust, Injury Time, Diction and Special Move, In addition, Rucktion will be bringing back the mighty Wisdom in Chains to London Town for an exclusive, one off show at the festival.

For more information, please go to: www.rucktion.com. For more information about presale tickets, please email: popi@rucktion.com

Bringing Back The Glory Ticket Giveaway!

So on Saturday, I announced the Bringing Back The Glory ticket give away... a pair of tickets to BBTG fest (transport and accommodation NOT included) .. the competition is still running and will end on the 20th March at midday.

To enter, all you have to do is answer this terribly simple question:

Which US city do Madball come from?

Send your answers with your full name to:

londoncalling@gmx.net

Good luck!

SO MUCH NEWS.. SUCH LITTLE TIME!

Bringing Back The Glory competition and tickets:

1. On Saturday 12th March between 12pm-3pm, on http://www.totalrock.com/, I will be announcing the competition to win a pair of Bringing Back the Glory tickets. The prize does NOT include flights or accommodation and the winner will be announced here on London Calling on the 19th March.
2. I literally have a couple of tickets left. If you would like any information on how to get some, please go here: http://londoncallinghc.blogspot.com/2010/12/bringing-back-glory-2-where-to-get.html

LDNLove has moved!

Does everyone remember the old Myspace? The website that was the worlds most popular social networking site? The one that every band on the planet used as a vehicle to get their music out to the masses? The one that was so simple to use? Well, those days have long gone. Unfortunately, the website developers, in an attempt to return to centre stage in the social networking world, have made the site buggy, included too many flash advertisements, and have made easy tasks relatively difficult.
So, as of last week, the LDNLove myspace page has closed down. No more information will be posted on this site.
Instead, the NEW LDNLOVE PAGE has now been set up and can be located here:

http://ldnlove.webs.com/

.. the format is more simple and including show details is no longer a chore. Please let me know if I have missed any shows out and also let me know what you think!

Deathskulls release new album:

Deathskulls have a new album out on Rucktion Records.. The Real Deal II has been a long time coming and was well worth the wait. Taking the best elements of old NYHC and giving it a distinctively English twist, the album is currently leading the run for “album of 2011”. If I recommend any band to check out, it would be this one! For more information on the Deathskulls, please go to: www.myspace.com/deathskulls and please click on the above link to pick up a copy of the album.

Damage Control

I bloody love Rucktion Records. The London label can simply do no wrong. So imagine our excitement when we discovered that they were facilitating the return of the May Bank Holiday weekend fest, Damage Control. The event showcases the best bands on the label (and in my opinion, in the UK), and is also bringing back London’s favourites, Wisdom in Chains.

If you would like more information, please go to: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103810473031581

Please do not forget to add the London Calling Twitter Page: www.twitter.com/LDNLove
And the London Calling Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=257663513265

Till next time!