The legendary Rage Against The Machine guitarist played a sold out sideshow at Rescue Rooms with his album’s The Atlas Underground band during a night off from his slot as main support for Muse and completely demonstrated why he is so iconic. Beginning his set by playing Battle, it was clear that this was no ordinary gig. His gargantuan 19 song setlist spanned his exceptional career, with selected cuts from Rage Against The Machine, his The Nightwatchman project, and a speci

After a four-week break for the Easter holidays, The Mic was straight back to Acoustic Rooms held at Rescue Rooms every Monday night from 8pm until late, where a mixture of local acts and guest headliners perform all night long, filling the venue with music and talent. May saw three weeks’ worth of great performances including five featured artists as well as the regular artists that we’ve come to know and love. The first guest was Homeless Shakespeare who usually performs wi

Enigmatic troubadour Ethan Barnett delivers a statesmanlike performance at his sold-out Nottingham show. Such is the nature of the fickle fiend that is the music industry nowadays that we find ourselves in dire need of musicians that naturally exude some taste for artistic integrity and flair. The market price for British born singer-songwriters who manage to portray an element of domesticity and serenity has risen exponentially in recent years as the likes of Ed Sheeran, Jam

Wheatus, seven-piece American rock band most known for their timeless classic ‘Teenage Dirtbag,’ graced the Rescue Rooms stage last night, playing a show that was unique in comparison to anything I had previously seen. They had one of the most relaxed entrances I’ve experienced, setting up much of their own equipment and instruments, and casually walking out onto the stage, which set the tone for the kind of chilled atmosphere that would ensue for the duration of the show. On

Fresh off the hype of their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Dogrel,’ Irish post-punks Fontaines D.C. performed a rapid set to a sold-out Rescue Rooms. “My childhood was small/But I’m gonna be big,” proclaims the opening track to ‘Dogrel.’ One would have thought, in light of perfect scores from The Guardian and NME, ‘Big’ would have been the sure-fire opener to a sold-out headline set in Nottingham. This wasn’t to be however, as the Dublin 5-piece opted to open the set with

Last Tuesday, I was lucky enough to get a last minute ticket to see Nina at one of my favourite venues in Nottingham. Whilst I had never really heard of her before the opportunity to watch her had come about, when I was asked if I wanted to go I quickly googled her and came across a photo of her stand out pink hair and instantly thought that she’d be my kind of vibe. Whilst I know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, I was totally right! I arrived ‘fashionably late’ to the

Easy Life are the latest band to emerge fresh and energetic from the East Midlands and their status is rapidly increasing, as evidenced on Wednesday evening when they played Rescue Rooms. The Leicester band is made up of former members of local bands By the Rivers and Park Bench Society and they arrived in Nottingham to cement their place as one of the UK’s most exciting young bands. In the lead up to the gig, the youthful crowd were kept entertained by the boisterous DJ Jack

Last night’s Acoustic Rooms saw a return to the more traditional open mic music, with singer/songwriters accompanied by their acoustic guitars dominating the evening. Opening the night was Tom Pryce who had been to Acoustic Rooms late last year. He opened with his song ‘Falling’ and then went on to play a couple more original songs which set the tone of a calm and laidback evening. Next up was Lee Moore who picked the pace up slightly with his cover of ‘Staying Out For The Su

One of pop’s most recognised voices speaks about collaborations, her solo aims and the music industry ahead of her sold-out show at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms The pop industry can be a tough and, at times, horrible business to be involved in. An increasingly competitive industry flooded with young and talented artists who act as mirror images to thousands of singers with budding futures, the pop world is a fickle and infuriating beast, and Worcestershire artist Becky Hill know

At no other point have the quaint, monochromatic walls of Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms become so elated with colour and spectacle as on Friday, 1st March, when Gus Dapperton took to their stage. Marking his first ever UK tour following his recent breakthrough onto the Season 2 soundtrack for Netflix’s popular series, ’13 Reasons Why’, Dapperton aspired to introduce his character with the greatest panache. Indeed, fans were not disappointed by the manifestation of 90s flair that

Beans on Toast’s ‘A Bird In The Hand’ tour hit Rescue Rooms last Saturday with the beloved folk singer on fine form as always. Opening with lead track “Another Year” on his aforementioned 10th album he had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the very start of his hit filled epic 23 song set, including special highlight “MDMAmazing”. This was Beans’ first tour with his new band and they sounded like a group who’d been together forever, with special mention having to go to d

With their eclectic mix of dream-pop, acid house and post-punk influences amongst many others, it would be unfair to attempt to define the Orielles by the genre which they fall into. Indeed, when a band walks out to A Guy Called Gerald’s Hacienda classic “Voodoo Ray”, then you know that you are in for a treat. They brought their tour to Rescue Rooms in Nottingham on Thursday night, delivering a show to illustrate why they are one of the UK’s most exciting young bands. While

Southampton metalcore act Our Hollow, Our Home came to Red Rooms on Tuesday in support of their latest album ‘In Moment//In Memory’ and put on an electric show despite the themes of loss and grief throughout their latest release. Despite initial technical difficulties during the transition from “//Denial” to opener “In Moment”, the band ploughed through a fast-paced 13-song set consisting of a pretty even mix between tracks off their newest album and those from their critical

Given the task of warming the crowd up before the main show was the Irish singer Grainne Duffy, with her Epiphone SG slung over her shoulder she opened the night up on a bluesy note with “Good Love Had To Die”, accompanied by Paul Sherry on the acoustic guitar. Caught unawares by the bold opening, the crowd was quickly swayed by her rich, crisp vocals and effortless guitar playing, which was prominently featured throughout her performances. The pair picked up the pace in the

The Kris Barras Band are rising stars on the rock and blues music scene, having made several major appearances on the UK and European festival circuit in the past couple of years, including Ramblin’ Man Fair (UK) and Rawa Blues Festival (Poland). On the first leg of their 2019 European tour, the band brought their signature brand of blues-infused heavy rock and roll to Rescue Rooms on Tuesday 12th of February, supported by the Irish singer/songwriter Grainne Duffy. Former pr

Cancer Bats absolutely levelled Rescue Rooms on Tuesday as part of their extensive UK tour to celebrate their latest release ‘The Spark That Moves’, which was released by surprise on April 20th 2018, almost ten years to the day after they released their iconic sophomore album ‘Hail Destroyer’. Their exhausting 19 song set took songs from both those albums and everything in between, with special highlights being “Lucifer’s Rocking Chair”, “Hail Destroyer”, and their legendary

Last week was an incredible night with guest artist Chrisèe performing a great guest set, and this week was looking to be just as good with another guest slot from Emzae who recently performed at Beat the Streets. The night started as usual with a few open mic slots and two guitarists kicked things off with Shaman joining them with some vocals on their last song. They created a dramatic atmosphere with their calm rock instrumental music and Shaman ended the set promising he’d

SHVPES played an absolutely blinding set in Rescue Rooms’ Red Room to a pretty packed out crowd despite it being a cold Wednesday night. The majority of the setlist was taken from new album ‘Greater Than’, but they made sure to play older fan favourites like “State of Mind” and “Skin and Bones” off their debut ‘Pain.Joy.Ecstasy.Despair’ which received the biggest singalongs on the evening. The absolute highlight however came from album closer “Counterfeit” with its iconic lyr

Last night was a special night at Acoustic rooms because it was jazz night, with Major Ruse, a Nottingham jazz trio, performing as the main event. Going into the night I didn’t know what to expect but organiser Laurie Illingworth was really excited and promised that if it was anything like the last time Major Ruse came to play back in August then it would be an incredible night. Major Ruse started the night off with their own set which definitely didn’t disappoint. Even as so

Last night saw The Mic return to Acoustic Rooms at Rescue Rooms and oh wow, it was great one to start our year off with! An abundance of performers turned up to play a variety of styles of music and kept the night going until well past midnight. Starting the night off was Scott Makepeace coming all the way from South Shields. It was his first time playing Acoustic Rooms but he’s been picked up by BBC Introducing East Midlands previously. He had a raw, almost IDLES sound to hi