For the second time in a week I was back at the LG Arena in Birmingham and this time it was for Paramore. They were being supported by fun and B.o.B. Having seen Paramore twice before I was looking forward to seeing them again just hoping it wasn’t a poor set (late, short & quiet) like it had been at Leeds Festival.

With a name like fun I very much doubted liking them and I didn't. What sprang to mind was the kind of band you'd see in a battle of the bands in a Disney film. But then they swore! I wasn't expecting that. The singer had xfactor written all over him while the rest of the band looked like they might have been failed rockers(?). There was a girl on the keys and acoustic guitar who looked alright from I was standing. The whole set was a bit simple and nothing stood out. They went down ok with the young Paramore fans but really should have had a better support act than fun.

Mr Bobby "B.O.B" Ray was next. I had only heard his songs that he's collaborated with someone on. It was alright but nothing special. I only really enjoyed the collaborations. His own stuff didn't do anything for me but I appreciate what he's doing. It was kinda cool and really had some decent bass. He earned some points by playing his own guitar & having a full band on stage. The highlight was, of course, Airplanes with Hayley. I won't make an effort to see him again and the only reason he’s big right now is because of the famous names he's attached himself too.

Paramore finished the evening with an incredibly energetic set. They come on and straight into Ignorance. What hit me first was the volume. Much louder than I had expected having seen them at Leeds. So that instantly did it for me. Their set was simple with 5 video screens and some dangling light bulbs (a la the Ignorance video) which look pretty awesome when they dropped from the ceiling and bounced around. The music was performed really well and when my eyes moved away from Hayley for a moment they’d always go to the drummer who was good to watch. In the middle they played three acoustic songs which worked really well. Paramore finished off the night with Misery Business during which they dragged on a young girl to sing and a guy to play the tambourine. The whole Paramore set was spot on and nothing but quality through. They are a class and a perfect band for all ages and appeal to fans of all genres, from your Justin Beiber fans to Anthrax metal heads (yes I saw an Anthrax t-shirt in the crowd and he was having a great time).

Not so long ago Funeral For A Friend announced they were going to play three smaller venues in what can only be described as a mini-tour. I was shocked to hear one of them was going to be Leicester, the city that I live closest too. It was to be at Sub 91, a new venue in Leicester where Jongleurs comedy club was (it’s now Highlight). A new venue with a great band in my city!!! (There’s also an Academy in Leicester now but I’m not going until December)

Having queued up in Walkabout (by that I mean sat in Walkabout until the queue was ending outside the door) we entered and all of 10 minutes later the first band started up. Hope it’s always like that at Sub 91.

Boy With X-Ray Eyes were first. A screemo band. I’m not a huge fan of screemo even though Funeral For A Friend were pretty much at the start of the screemo movement. They were actually quite enjoyable and had a mix of singing and screeming. Doubt I’ll make an effort to listen to them again but they were good at what they did. 

Next up were Rise To Remain who are fronted by Bruce Dickinson's (Iron Maiden) son. I was told these were rubbish and they are only here because of that relationship. Rise To Remain were pretty good. Again not a band I will make much of an effort to listen to again. Their music was solid, and clearly inspired by Iron Maiden and like. The lead did have a bit of his dad’s voice but I think that’s only because I knew there was a connection, otherwise I wouldn’t have noticed. Decent set overall.

Funeral For A Friend were up. Having seen these Welsh boys 5 or 6 times before I knew what to expect. A cracking set, well preformed and the whole crowd singing their hearts out. It was the crowd singing away during the first song that stopped me noticing that Matthew Davies-Kreye’s voice was really off. Poor guy had a very sore throat but still tried his hardest and that’s what I come to expect from Funeral For A Friend. In the end his voice not being at it’s strongest really showed why live music is the best and that’s because of the crowd. The crowd had Matt’s back and sang every word to every song. Matt wasn’t really needed! Of course he is!!! Recently they released a new EP called The Young and Defenceless which I hadn’t heard anything from. They played a few tracks from that and I instantly loved them. Some heaviness I’ve not heard from FFAF before. Funeral For A Friend played my favourites too... All The Rage, Roses For The Dead, Into Oblivion (that intro has such a lovely feeling to it) and the rest...

Funeral For A Friend, regardless of Matt being able to sing, still stay as one of my highest rated live bands. 

Sub 91 is a cool little venue too. Sound is OK but my ears are still ringing.

On Wednesday my uncle, John Jackson, was awarded the VIP Award by Classic Rock magazine for his work as a tour agent. Congratulations to him and below a video of the presentation from Rod Smallwood, Alice Cooper and Sarah Cawood.

K2 Agent John Jackson, one of the creators of the Sonisphere rock festival, was honoured with the VIP Award (sponsored by currencies.co.uk), following in the footsteps of Harvey Goldsmith and Doc McGhee, for his impact on the music world through representing global rock and metal acts such as Slipknot, Metallica, Iron Maiden and AC/DC.

From Classic Rock Roll of Honour Winners

Linkin Park are one of my favourite bands of all time. Their newest album, A Thousand Suns, did disappoint me somewhat. It wasn’t love at first listen like with Hybird Theory but it’s growing on me. But hey I love them and had to go see them again. 

Does It Offend You, Yeah? They were the support act. Never heard of them before. I would put Does It Offend You, Yeah? in the same corner as bands like Hadouken and Enter Shikari Pretty much loud, electronic, shouty and repetitive. That sounds bad with I do enjoy and bit of Hadouken, Enter Shikari every once in awhile. However, Does It Offend You, Yeah? were way too repetitive. Every sound DID sound the same and nothing caught me as being anything new, special or enjoyable. The last songthey played was familiar and that’s because it was on a TV advert for car, I think. Bad warm up band for a band of Linkin Park’s stature. 

Now I was looking forward to Linkin Park’s older stuff the most. Unfortunately they didn’t play much from Hybird Theory or Meteroa. Fortunately their new stuff sounds much better live. There’s much more of a focus on Mike’s rapping now than there has been in the past. I do love his raps but it takes away from Chester incredible voice. The stage set up with pretty cool with all kind of video footage in the background. Overall it was a great gig but of the four times I’ve seen them, this was the worst. Don’t get me wrong, worst for Linkin Park is still pretty awesome. Their best performance I’ve seen was at Sonisphere in 2009.

I hate Avenged Sevenfold. Yup that’s the way to start a review that is going to involve them. The only reason I went to this gig was simply Stone Sour. Having seen them for the first time at Download only a few months ago I was hooked. Shame that Avenged Sevenfold were co-headlining. There’s so many other bands that would have suited me more. But that’s just me. There’s loads of Avenged fans around so they must be good at something.

There was another band playing. Hellyeah. These guys were heavy and aggressive. Actually liked these guys. Worked well as a warm up.

Avenged Sevenfold were up next, before Stone Sour and rightly so I must add. They weren’t as terrible as I imagined and actually, musically, really good. I even liked a few songs. What I don’t like about them is the whiny voice the lead singer has sometimes. They put effort into their set too. A haunted house backdrop with a stone wall/fence that produced flames. Pretty cool and helped me enjoy them a bit more.

Then what I was waiting for... Stone Sour came on to some cheesy intro but a bit of cheese is good. The performance was spot on. Stone Sour produced such a raw sound with all the passion you’d expect from Corey Taylor. His voice is so strong and when he yells it blows you away. The playlist was a really good mix of old and new. Standing through Avenged Sevenfold was definitely worth it to see Stone Sour.

One note about the parking at the NIA... get their early! Otherwise, like us, you’ll end up on the bottom floor of this multi-story car park not being able to move for at least 45 minutes.