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I’ve been a fan of Magnum for forty-five years. The first album I bought from the English Melodic Hard Rock band was ‘Magnum II’ and I’ve been following them ever since.

Last year, I volunteered to review Joanne Shaw Taylor’s show at the Royal College of Music in Manchester. I went along as a casual follower but since that night I’ve become a huge fan, with her ‘Black & Gold’ release becoming my most played, and favourite album of 2024.

I thought my days of outdoor gigs were largely behind me – hey, I was there for every freezing cold, sopping wet minute of the Deep Purple reunion show at Knebworth in June 1985! – but when the opportunity to see one of the hottest “new” Melodic Rock acts currently doing the rounds play their final gig of the summer arose, it was too good a chance to miss.

It’s been a few years since I saw FM in Bristol, and they’ve shifted sideways from playing on a boat (Thekla) to one of the most loved smallish venues in the UK, which is never a bad thing. The Fleece & Firkin may have a few poles that get in your way but also hold up the roof, but it’s usually a great place to watch a band, so I’m looking forward to this one.

The second edition of the festival organized by Wind Up Productions and Planet AOR took place in late July in Malmö, Sweden, reaffirming the city as the true Capital of AOR. Over three days, the event gathered devoted Melodic Rock and AOR fans from 29 different countries, establishing itself as a truly international convention of remarkable stature.

Having missed this gig last year, I was curious to see if anything had changed. I suspected not as, well, why change something that already works successfully, as once again the festival had sold out.

It’s a beautiful sunny evening in Blackpool and my first visit to the Waterloo. The venue is covered in Rock memorabilia – a great place to see one of my all-time favourite vocalists. First up though are recently reformed Scottish rockers Lyin Rampant.

It was the best weather at Steelhouse this year. Notorious for rain, we only saw a few light showers on the Sunday afternoon, with beautiful clear views of the surrounding hills being the order of the day for the rest of the time. Things are so much easier at a festival when the weather is good!

I must admit that this was the first time I had ever attended something like this. I had actually hoped that I would be covering the following night’s concert with Judas Priest at the O2, and incorporate the two together, but that didn’t come off, so this may seem a little strange. Still, I regarded it as a historic night.

With 25,000 festival-goers, ROCKHARZ is now the third-largest open-air Metal festival in Germany. Founded in 1993, it has grown naturally over the years. A very loyal community has developed, creating a unique family atmosphere. In addition, there’s always a strong line-up, and a whole range of interesting unique selling points that contribute to the success of ROCKHARZ.

The Florida Legends of Southern Rock returned to Birmingham (not the one in Alabama!) and brought with them the natural successors to their crown as support, for an excellent night of Southern Rock.

What a fantastic weekend it was for the Birmingham music scene as we said our final goodbyes to two of the second city’s best-known acts. On the same night that Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath took their final bows just three miles down the road at Villa Park, in the City Centre at the Utilita Arena Jeff Lynne brought his Electric Light Orchestra back to his home town for the first of five shows of the ‘Over And Out’ farewell tour.

What is this that stands before me? Figure in black which points at me… Yes, it is the prince of darkness Mr John Michael (Ozzy) Osbourne himself. Was it a “Symptom Of The Universe” or did I step “Into The Void” to witness both “Heaven And Hell” in one glorious sunny day at Villa Park? It was fitting after some 57 years that Black Sabbath ended their glorious career a few miles from their birthplaces in Aston, Birmingham.

Having missed out on the inaugural Tower Of Fire due to location and other family disasters, when I found out that the sequel would be at the excellent Nightrain in Bradford, I made concrete plans to attend, and it turned out to be a wise decision! The entire event, organised by Greg and Adele Dean from Towerok Management Services and our very own CEO Bruce Mee, was superbly run and acted as a stark reminder of why we need to have these types of events

There’s no doubt that New Model Army is an appropriate choice for support for this gig in terms of their vintage and likely cross over in terms of fans. While they have always been in a bit of a class of their own, they were always more Goth than Rock and this expresses itself in lyrics about bodies, war and death. These days they very much look like a Rock band and they are very loud, but the haunting storytelling nature of their songs persists.

I wouldn’t have necessarily put The Spangles in the same breath as The Electric Boys, but there’s no doubt that the former were very pleased to be on the same bill. Full of beans from the off, they are lively and engaging. They play Punky Rock ‘n’ Roll right up my street, so a win for me. Not far into the set Ben Marsden on guitar and vocals declares “We don’t give a f*ck we’re not in Wembley... Might be selfish, but I’m here for a good time too!”

When I first saw this advertised, I made the mistake of not reading it correctly, and thinking it was a different version of G3. Roll forward to last week, and I suddenly realised it wasn’t.

The 100 Club is a historic venue that has hosted many greats over the years and on offer tonight was a great roster of acts, starting with opener Kirris Rivière and The Delta Du Bruit who brought a lovely helping of Ol’ Black Blues, a mixture of originals and covers such as Muddy Waters’ ‘Can’t Be Satisfied’. The fact that they sat beside one another so easily is a testament to their songwriting and chops.

So it’s Call Of The Wild again, a festival I have now been at for six consecutive years. It’s lovely to see it grow and keep the family feel, but also get more polished and executed with cutting edge professionalism. It always takes a couple of years for a festival to get going and it’s now on a roll. It’s getting more diverse now, not solely Glam Sleaze, it embraces heavier and Goth bands and the Saturday night headliner is usually a crossover mainstream band. For those into

The weather is glorious and I’m in North Wales for a long weekend, however all I can think about is the gig on Sunday night. After a two-hour mad dash I’m outside the Ritz and there is a sizeable crowd already gathered. Once inside you can sense the night is going to be special – it doesn’t get much better than my all-time favourite musician performing my all-time favourite live album in full.