Commercial Time! Daisy Buttons Calendar 2012 in aid of Fur & Feather Sanctuary

Been a bit fallow on the gigs front for me lately, but I thought I'd write about this charity calendar which features... a cat! 

Not just any cat though; Daisy Buttons is the moggy in question and she is owned - sorry she owns, highly-regarded rock photographer Ash Newell. Ash has put together this calendar featuring his beloved feline in a variety of poses, with all proceeds going towards the Fur & Feather Animal Sanctuary. It's a project with extra special meaning to Ash (and to Daisy, naturally!) since Daisy Buttons was a rescued cat. 

If you've not heard of Ash Newell before, he's a Texas-based photographer originally from Yorkshire, England. He has taken portraits of many big-name stars from the music world, including Whitesnake, Black Label Society, Steve Lukather of Toto, Taylor Swift, Nickelback, and legendary figures such as Duane Eddy and Kris Kristofferson. In 2008-9 Ash was Def Leppard's tour photographer, with the band issuing two coffee table books featuring his photos, and he enjoys a close working relationship with the Leppards still.

I'm the fanboy in the Whitesnake t-shirt here with Ash, taken at Dublin's o2 Arena in 2009 while waiting to get in to see Coverdale and co! 

For more on Ash's work please see his Facebook page at:

Ash Newell Photography

For further details on the Daisy Buttons 2012 Calendar and how to order please visit the Fur & feather page:

Daisy Buttons 2012 Calendar Fur & Feather Animal Sanctuary

Miaow! 

 

Caught Live: Theory of a Deadman, o2 Academy Liverpool, 7 April 2010.

About the only thing I knew of this band prior to their gig in Liverpool was that they sounded like Nickelback. It turns out that the connection is far deeper than that; also Canadian, they were actually signed to Chad Kroeger's label and he had a hand in writing the material from their first album, released in 2002. A four-piece band, with vocalist Tyler Connolly using a two-microphone setup (one 'clean', one distorted) in similar fashion to the Nickelback singer, and with him also taking much of the lead guitar work, the focus is very much on Connolly and his throwback 1950's hair (!)

Their songs have much the same structure as their multi-million selling countrymen, with many singalong anthems made for the arena. The main issue I had with them was that they do not really stand out; it's not just that they sound like another more famous band (after all, the last group I saw at this place are also criticised for sounding like a much better-known band from their own land!) but that they could be just one of any number of North American groups playing this style. I could imagine their songs being used in a soundtrack to the latest drama on CBS, or as a backing track to a commercial aired on TV across the pond. The fact that their guitar tech wore a 'Late Show with David Letterman' shirt spoke volumes; it's that sort of pseudo-alternative rock that seems to do so well over there.

They do have some good songs, but nothing that really latches onto the brain the way Nickelback have done. For all their detractors, Kroeger and co have the knack of writing that song which hits the spot. If they can break through with one song in that manner they will probably take off, but for now it's strictly a cult following. The crowd at the o2 was a reasonable turnout, maybe just short of a thousand and many present knew the songs. They did play well, although I thought Connolly's vocal was a little lost in the mix, but as stated before there is little to mark them out as special.

The same cannot be said for the support (Halestorm). A four-piece fronted by female singer/guitarist Lzzy (that's not a typo - she does leave out the 'i'!) they rocked up the place in fine style, after finding themselves opening the show with the withdrawal of Heaven's Basement from the bill. Lzzy introduced herself with an extended bout of shrieking and hollering, this slender dark-haired figure was not afraid to show off her impressive vocal range. The band play old-fashioned hard rock (comprising lead guitarist Joe Hottinger, bassist Josh Smith and Arejay Hale - Lzzy's brother - on drums) but their singer is far and away their best asset. She has power, range, and stage presence; it was like hearing Jody Turner (remember her?) in Suzi Quatro's shoes!
After hearing this band - again, a band I knew nothing about prior to tonight - I and many present were very impressed. They went off to a great reception, the best I've heard from a support act in years. After their set they conducted a signing session at the merchandise stand; the crowd they drew just for that illustrated how well they went down. Luckily for me, I got the last copy of their CD on sale at the gig for a bargain £2 - just because it was the display copy and the case was broken. Result - and all the band signed it! Speaking to Lzzy afterward, she was delighted with the way the band were received.

So then, a good night; although the headline band were good, their support blew me away. Look out for Halestorm, they deserve to go a long way.

Caught Live: Nickelback, Echo Arena Liverpool 17 January 2010

Nickelback vocalist Chad Kroeger was clearly enjoying his visit to Liverpool, hollering the city name long and loudly at frequent intervals. This date, one of only two UK shows on the current leg of their tour, came so soon after their last batch of arena shows that I thought they may have had trouble filling the venue. As I was able to get a standing ticket on the night, I expected to find a half-empty hall. However, upon entering the arena floor it was apparent that they had indeed sold well; all the seats looked in use and the floor was already filling up. I can only assume that they had a substantial walk-up crowd on the night, and that those who had bought in advance had elected to go in the seats. The show itself was broadly similar to that given in Manchester last May; the full production complete with pyro, lights and video screen was present and correct, as was the stage ramp with rotating drum kit. They did change the set list around a little, and they displayed a nice touch in performing 'I Ran (So Far Away)' for the local crowd; recognising the fact there's more to Liverpool's music scene than the Fab Four they delivered a much-rocked up rendition of A Flock Of Seagulls' 80s hit.

As with their previous show last year, there was a lot of humour and joking about between songs, both with the crew and the audience, in particular their guitar tech 'Timmy' is getting a following of his own, with five audience members decked out in T-shirts which spelt out 'T-I-M-M-Y' pointed out by Chad Kroeger. It is good to see a band of this stature involving their crew in the show, although Timmy is often seen adding additional guitar and keyboards. It was once again a professional production, this band are not claiming to be the saviours of rock, and it's unlikely they'll be remembered in revered tones in twenty years' time, but they do know how to put on a show, and they do have the songs which make it all possible. For the ten thousand or so who showed up at the Echo Arena, that is more than enough.

Support was from Daughtry, a band about whom I knew absolutely nothing. Their set was shortened, as I learned later, owing to technical problems, but their lead singer (after whom the group is named) had a good strong voice, well suited to the arena-friendly anthemic rock they peddle. They were decent live, but a little bit too polite for me. Their main problem is that there is already one Alter Bridge, and they do this sort of thing much better. That said, although I had not previously heard of them before, there were plenty present who had, and they did get a decent reception from the crowd. They do lack that killer song though, one which will lodge itself in the mind and strike a chord with the public. Nickelback have managed to do that more than once, hence their arena status today. If their openers can come up with something that has a similar effect, they will succeed.

Caught Live: Nickelback, MEN Arena Manchester 22 May 2009

Way back at around the start of this decade, you could not switch on your radio or put a music TV channel on, without hearing 'How You Remind Me', which introduced Canadian hard rockers Nickelback to the UK. It got pushed initially on Kerrang TV, before being picked up by many other outlets. I've often felt it's that which has caused the negative press the band has suffered here; that instead of them being played on 'rock' outlets and only being known to the 'Kerrang crowd', they broke free and crossed over, where their song instantly connected with a different audience. An older one. Once they were accepted by the 'older' crowd, the backlash began in earnest. Kerrang (the magazine) infamously branded singer Chad Kroeger a 'c**t' for having a heckler ejected from a show, something which caused resentment with the band, and only served to help Kerrang! paint them as 'uncool', in the process turning their backs on a band which their own channel broke over here. The further success of 'Rock Star', another song which lodged in the public mind for many months, did little to change that perception as once again, one of their songs crossed over and achieved mainstream success.

No doubt to the irritation of Kerrang!, and the rest of the UK press, Nickelback have achieved big, and consistent success in the years since. Their latest tour sees them once again hit British arenas, less than a year since last they played here. Clearly they're doing something right, as a large crowd showed at the MEN. They didn't sell it out, but made a good fist of it, with only the upper tier at the very back unused. Watching this band perform, I could find little evidence of 'c**t-ish' behaviour from the frontman, instead I saw a consummate professional easily take command of a big crowd, and connect with them as though it were a club gig. I was impressed with his live vocal, no croaking and no straining at the seams, although he is well backed by guitarist Ryan Peake and drummer Daniel Adair.



They performed a set packed with singalong rock anthems, some semi-acoustic of the type that made them famous, others all-out Metal. Not being that familiar with the band's work myself, it was slightly surprising to hear them really rock out, but they do so with style and can kick ass with the very best of them. Their stage show skimped on absolutely nothing; all the lights you want, pyro and fireworks of the sort not seen since Rammstein last came to town, an elevated platform for the drummer to perform his solo (yes, they do a drum solo!) and the obligatory stage ramp extending deep into the arena floor. Only when the band came to the front of this ramp did they reveal a second drum kit which was hidden underneath, and a section of the ramp turned over with the kit in place! They even brought out their crew, armed with air cannons with which to shoot T-shirts into the crowd! Those things were incredibly powerful, as the band played, T-shirts flew high into the upper tiers of the arena. I feared a 'Maude Flanders' moment for a while there! Every arena rock cliché in the book was used by Nickelback during this show, but they would not be able to do any of it if they did not have the songs to back it all up. They do, and plenty of them. To my surprise, their two biggest hits 'Rock Star' and 'How You Remind Me' were delivered during the main set, not in the encores. A further example of non-c**tish antics from Chad Kroeger was given when he brought out Chris from openers Black Stone Cherry to play a cover of AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell'.



All in all then, almost the perfect arena show. They put only one foot wrong for me throughout the night, and that was when they played 'If Everyone Cared'. Accompanied by a preachy-looking slide show esposuing the humanitarian work done by the likes of Bono, Mandela and others, it was all a bit U2, a bit CNN, and not really in keeping with the rest of the show, which was pure rock 'n' roll entertainment.
Thankfully it was only for that one song, but that sort of thing is best left to Bono and co. What we hard rockers crave is escapism from the real world! I will forgive their other minor faux-pas, when during 'Photograph', their montage of slides on the video screen featured a girl wearing a 'Sun' t-shirt (but if you ever play the Echo Arena guys, leave that slide out - ta!)



Kerrang! will sneer, but Nickelback didn't get to this status by making their music for critics, and such press bashing didn't stop Queen, it didn't stop Kiss, and it won't stop Nickelback. An excellent show, and a great live band.