[avatar =”Ross” size=”50″ align=”left” /]Gigs, albums, news, 2014 has been pretty incredible with regards to rock and metal.
Metallica headlined Glastonbury, Avenged Sevenfold silenced doubters with a spectacular headline show at and Sonisphere made a welcome return to Knebworth…comprised largely of ’s bands from the two years they missed.
Foo Fighters continue to make great music, Slash and his buddies made an earth-shattering record and Royal Blood topped the charts with their debut album. But now it’s time to look forward and see what 2015 holds. With the first six months already looking incredibly healthy in of gigs, here are some things I’m hoping for in the next 12 months.
The Virginmarys
In February 2013, the Macclesfield trio delivered one of the best albums of 2013 and possibly the finest debut record since “Appetite for Destruction”. Raw and honest, as rock and roll should be. As one of my favourite bands and having heard what they have up their sleeves at their recent Glasgow performance, I can’t wait for that second album. Hopefully we’ll get a tour to follow, as well!
Halestorm
Given “The Strange Case Of…” is a couple of years old and Halestorm have toured far and wide in of it and the fact there’s a pretty big UK tour, I want to hear some new songs. Lzzy Hale has more or less confirmed a new album is done and they’ll be playing new songs on the UK tour, I hope it’s out in the next couple of months.
Alice Cooper
After his last UK tour in 2012, it’s been a while since we’ve seen the master of shock rock. It’s been over three years since the last album, “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” and with some festival appearances this year and ing Motley Crue’s farewell tour; I think we’re due a visit from Alice.
Motley Crue
Speaking of which…with a lengthy farewell tour of the US and multiple festival slots near the top of the bill, shouldn’t we be getting a night or two at Academies?
Motorhead
Mainly this is so I can cross off the last band on my “to see” list. With Lemmy in better shape and missing the band on various occasions, it’d be great to see the loudest band in the world.
Tremonti
With a hair-raising debut album while Myles Kennedy toured with Slash, his brother in arms, Mark Tremonti decided to record his own album. Heavier than Alter Bridge with a couple of songs obviously left over from “AB III” and surprisingly good whilst being a decent singer. Updates show the band are hard at work on a follow-up and I hope it’s just as good, if not better. With the band confirmed for a couple of festivals next year, here’s hoping he makes his solo debut.
Queens of the Stone Age
After a long break between albums as Josh Homme decided to front Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones and various other issues, Queens of the Stone Age made a welcome return last year. And with Homme being a guy always on the go and given various comments, I think we’ll see the next album sooner than later.
System of a Down
Another band I’ve yet to see. Since their return from hiatus in 2011, System haven’t played to UK audiences with the exception of festival appearances and in April, Wembley arena. Give us a full UK tour, even without new music and that would sell out.
Heaven’s Basement & Monster Truck
With both having solid debut albums in 2013 and touring relentlessly, we’re due some new stuff from the pair of them. A headline show in their own right from Monster Truck would be a great night, though I’m not opposed to the pair of them going out on tour together. I’d get a ticket for that before I had time to blink.
Metallica
Another year without a Metallica album. Yes, ok, they’ve not made anything decent in a couple of decades but it’s better we get something rather than Lars posturing, saying they’re working on songs then play the summer festivals again. Their newest song “Lords of Summer” wasn’t fantastic and a new Metallica album won’t be anything along the lines of “Master of Puppets” or “Ride the Lightning”. But on the other hand, it’s not like it can be as bad as “St Anger”, right?
Guns N’ Roses
Just think about an “Appetite…” era reunion. They could play that album in full and swap in some “Illusions” songs and that tour would be sold out in minutes. Axl patches up his differences with Steven Adler and Slash, fans rejoice because Guns N’ Roses is finally, once more, Guns N’ Roses. But wait, Guns N’ Roses tours already sell well and each “Appetite…” member is happy doing their own thing. Maybe in 2015, people will give up the fantasy which will never happen.
Growth & New bands
I want to see bands watch their audiences grow and play to more people, a few of the bands mentioned above I’ve seen in small venues and they deserve to be in bigger ones. I also want to discover some new bands, be it from ing another band I’m out to see or I’m told “these guys are amazing – check them out” or, dare I say it, a band appears from nowhere and take the world by storm.
With the recent tour news of AC/DC, they were scrapped from the list after adding them; I’ll finally cross them off my “need to see before they die” list. ittedly, Rolling Stones are on that list but I’m waiting for my lottery numbers to come up for that one.
