The Cover Version: Hasn’t It Had Its Day? (Feature)

The cover version. Pay dirt for every pub band and fledgling teenage rock group around the country. Or alternatively, and more commonly these days, a quick way for a fame-hungry popstar wannabe to grab a few minutes in the limelight and for a mega-rich music exec and TV producer to get their hands on more of that much-needed wonga. After the recent Christmas Number One, a reworking of ‘Many of Horror’ by Scottish alt-rockers Biffy Clyro, which also happened to be the fourth X Factor Christmas Number One cover version in a row – excluding Rage Against the Machine’s brief stint at the top spot at the end of 2009 – is seems that it is now virtually impossible for an aspiring pop singer to come up with an original piece of music, even with an overpaid team of professional songwriters behind them. So what does this mean for the future of British pop music? Ignoring the dreadful thought that we may have to spend every Christmas from now until the end of eternity listening to one of Simon Cowell’s minions singing a god-awful, dreary love song while we eat our sprouts, it also means that there is a pretty good chance we will be forced to listen to a second-rate version of a track that was perfectly fine as it was. Come on, Britain – isn’t it about time we said no?

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Monday, 17 January 2011

Stereoboard Tour of the Week – Bright Eyes

Four years on from their splendidly well-received Glastonbury set, their critically and commercially successful seventh album ‘Cassadaga’ and their less well-received cancelled UK tour dates, US folk-rockers Bright Eyes are back with a number of small shows announced for next month. Following their previously-announced date at the Royal Albert Hall, which has since sold out, the band have now revealed three new dates that will coincide with the release of their new album ‘The People’s Key’ and includes a show at London’s Scala venue on 14th February – the day the album comes out.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Friday, 14 January 2011

The Big 4, Blink 182 & Foo Fighters Listed In Stereoboard's Hottest Tickets Of 2011 (Feature)

With Christmas and New Year now well in the rear view mirror, it’s time to start looking forward to what promises to be another spectacular year of live music. With hot new bands popping up everywhere you look, plenty of current artists continuing to get bigger and better and a welcome return from several old favourites, we felt it was time to look at the 10 tours we, at Stereoboard, are most looking forward to in 2011.

Written by: Dave Ball | Date: Wednesday, 12 January 2011

The Duke Spirit – Stereoboard Tour of the Week

Happy New Year! Hopefully by now, the hangovers, belly aches and New Year’s resolutions are beginning to wear off and you’re ready to get well and truly stuck in to another year of gigs, festivals and good, old fashioned rock’n’roll-type fun. Yes, that’s right – after a couple of weeks off for the oh-so short Christmas break, it’s time for the new tours of 2011 to start rolling in so that the ticket-buying British public can see what’s on offer this year.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Friday, 07 January 2011

Black Rose - A Rock Legend (Phil Lynott Thin Lizzy Feature)

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Ireland’s first true rock star Phil Lynott. Most famous for his work in Thin Lizzy, Lynott stood out as one of the most unique performers and musicians of his era and his legacy remains to this day. One of the few black Irishmen in Dublin, he was instantly recognisable to Dubliners and it was this fame, rather than any great musical ability which won him a place in Brush Shiel’s Skid Row which also featured Gary Moore on guitar.

Written by: Daniel Lynch | Date: Wednesday, 05 January 2011

Why The X Factor Doesn't Get My Vote (Feature)

Cast your mind back to the end of 2009 and the United Kingdom was split into 3 distinct groups: those who wanted the X Factor winner to get the Christmas number one ; the anti-X Factor brigade who wanted the protest Rage Against the Machine single to get the position and those who didn’t give a toss either way. I must confess that I was in the “I don’t give a toss” brigade at the time. X Factor was no more than an annoyance to me and I always found Rage’s teenage angst chorus a bit laughable. It turned out that Rage got the number one which must have shaken the foundations of the Cowell empire for such a blink and you’ll miss it period of time that a new unit of time measurement called the Cowell was created.

Written by: Rob Burns | Date: Tuesday, 04 January 2011

Stereoboard Reveals Their Top Tips For Success in 2011

Another year is nearly up and it’s time to have a quick look back at 2010 before we have a long look forward into 2011. As we left the Noughties, 2010 brought us another exciting and eventful year in music. Bands like Mumford and Sons, The Drums and, of course, the xx have been among the new names that have given us plenty of good reasons to head out to the nearest gig venue or download another great album to our iPods. On the other hand, we've had old favourites like the Libertines, Biffy Clyro, Rage Against the Machine and Guns n' Roses, who have reared their ugly heads and, once again, astounded us - for the right reasons or otherwise.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Monday, 20 December 2010

Warpaint – Stereoboard Tour of the Week

As 2010 draws to a close, the last few tour announcements for 2011 are still coming in. This week’s stand-out tour news is almost certainly that of all-girl LA rock troupe Warpaint. It’s been only a few weeks since the release of their widely-acclaimed debut album and already the four-piece are beginning to stir-up a great deal of interest in their biggest UK tour to date. Following the recent announcement of their NME Awards Show at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in February, the experimental rock group have confirmed details of ten new dates in May, including one in Dublin. Looking back at the initial excitement that Warpaint have managed to create over the past few months, it is likely that this will be one of the most sought-after tours of the spring.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Friday, 17 December 2010

Lady Gaga Reigns In Stereoboard's Top 20 Tours Of 2010 & Top 10 Tours For 2011 (Feature)

Stereoboard have compiled a list of the best selling, and most in demand, tours that took place in 2010. We've dug out our extensive sales data over the past 18 months, covering over 44,000 UK events and hundreds of thousands of ticket sales, to bring you the definitive list of what events the people of Great Britain and Ireland have splashed the cash to see live this year.

Written by: Dave Ball | Date: Wednesday, 15 December 2010

A Fool And His Money (Bon Jovi Feature)

Rather than risk getting sidetracked by requests for recipes and handy hints, it’s probably best if I don’t dwell on my previous life as a cook.

Written by: David Evans | Date: Tuesday, 14 December 2010

The Rise Of The Eccentrics (Lady Gaga Feature)

Now I don’t normally ask a lot from people, but please could you do this one thing for me: The next time you’re on a night out and see a man wearing a bowtie, hit him with the nearest blunt object you can find. I’m not even joking on this one: beer bottle, chair leg, hammer – anything capable of ending his evening early will do.

Written by: James Conlon | Date: Friday, 10 December 2010

The Festivals - Stereoboard Tour of the Week

OK, so this isn't really a tour and some of us may have only just recovered from our hangovers after this year's outing to one or more summer events. However, festival season is a pretty important time on the musical calendar and, as the line-up news is starting to fly in and the earlybird tickets are about to go onsale, here at Stereoboard we're preparing ourselves for next year's summer rock excursion before the year has even begun and before we've even scraped the last of the ice from our windscreens.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Wednesday, 08 December 2010

Blink 182 - Stereoboard Tour of the Week

Considering Blink 182 are somewhat well-known for being a bit of a comedy band, with their toilet humour-filled lyrics and immature onstage antics, the last five years have seemed like more of a drama for the Californian punk trio. First, there was the break-up. Then came the awful news of Travis’s plane crash. And finally, there was the emotional reunion. You can’t write this kind of stuff. But anyway, the Blink boys are back and, after two hugely popular headlining performances at Reading and Leeds this summer and with a new album supposedly on the way, it appeared that things were, once again, beginning to look bright and cheerful for both the group and their many, many fans.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Thursday, 25 November 2010

Bellowhead Interview & Live Review - The Old Vic, Bristol - 11th Nov 2010

Late one crisp Tuesday night, long after the elfin children had been put to bed and the stars had risen to twinkle over us, Stereoboard were invited to commune with co-founder of traditional English folk troupe Bellowhead, John Spiers. Like any traditional folkster worth his salt, Spiers most likely had plans with a crafty freight of wenches not long after our interview. We tried to take up as little of his time as possible.

Written by: Richard Kemp | Date: Monday, 22 November 2010

Iron Maiden - Stereoboard Tour of the Week

Well... It’s been a relatively long time coming, but at last, it’s finally arrived. Yes, that’s right – the time has come for a brand spanking new Iron Maiden UK tour!

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Friday, 19 November 2010

Stereoboard's Weekly Roundup - Foo Fighters, Kings Of Leon, Take That

Welcome to this week’s Stereoboard roundup! Each week, we’ll be taking a look at the bands and artists that you’ve been reading about and buying tickets for over the past few days. We’ll check out each of these acts to find out why they’ve been causing so much excitement and we’ll also give you the news on what else they’ve been up to.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Friday, 12 November 2010

Kyuss Lives – Stereoboard Tour of the Week

Following our previous Tour of the Week, which was awarded to Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters, it appears that another group of Josh Homme’s former bandmates are in the process of getting back to what they do best. This time around, it’s the band he first found fame with – Kyuss.

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Wednesday, 10 November 2010

Kings Of Leon And Me: A Troubled Relationship (Feature)

Remember that first time you popped ‘Youth & Young Manhood’ into your stereo? Wasn’t it totally badass? Weren’t Caleb’s vocals on ‘Molly’s Chamber’ inexplicitly dirty? There was no other band like them. They were the band that made me cool, more so at least than my Star Wars obsession and addiction to role-playing games ever could. When all my mates were listening to 50 Cent and Eminem, thinking that it was cool to listen to rappers sing about their bitch of a mother or their entourage ho’s, I was more than happy to have my favourite band be one which my mates had never heard of. And of course when that hardcore rumour of the band partaking in incest started to circulate, I, by affiliation, was also shagging every member of my family. I’d like to make it clear that I wasn’t and neither were the Tennessee foursome. ‘Youth & Young Manhood’ remains one of my favourite albums because it shaped me as a teenager, it gave me the badass streak that I so craved!

Written by: Rhys Morgan | Date: Monday, 08 November 2010

Keep Those Promos Coming (Feature)

I can’t say for certain, but it stands to reason that I don’t get anywhere near as many of those promotional emails as the big-name pundits do. But if Trish or Stephanie or Gillian or any of my other PR contacts happen to be reading this, rest assured your messages never go the way of those cyber-ads for Viagra or penis enlargement that somehow manage to worm through my spam filter.

Written by: David Evans | Date: Thursday, 04 November 2010

James Blunt Tops Stereoboard's Poll of Top 10 Most Loathed Artists

Ever since August, when everyone was shouting about Axl Rose and his famous lack of punctuality – as displayed with the usual amount of arrogance at Reading and Leeds – we haven’t been feeling the love here at Stereoboard. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite. So last week, we asked you to come up with the person you dislike the most in music and we’ve been waiting with bated breath for the results to come in. Will it be Axl? Or maybe Liam? Or possibly even one of the countless “musical” delights that Simon Cowell and his X Factor have kindly unleashed on the world?

Written by: Rob Sleigh | Date: Thursday, 04 November 2010