Neat idea, I thought, a whole day of music, free and in a music store so you can really get up close and personal. I'm not sure that in actuality it worked quite like that!
Around 1 o'clock in the afternoon I strolled into Virgin Megastore to be greeted by hoards of teenagers donned in black 'ROCK' T-shirts and sweatbands up to their elbows. Behind me some guy was leafing through Barbara Streisand records and I don't think that he knew quite what had hit him!
Following my ears, I arrived at the escalators which were adorned by a massive screen with a live feed of the action in the basement. The up close and personal views I'd expected....well this was it! I knew that the artists were playing somewhere downstairs but I wasn't prepared to fight my way through the moshing crowds. I'd have lost myself in what looked like the extras from "Night of the Living Dead".
Anyhow, it was all good. Yourcodenameismilo were rocking out and I was enthralled. It's been a long time since I've seen a really decent new band and these guys wailed. They looked pretty cool too. OK, so they'd gone for the whole white Trailer Trash vibe and I could only see the arms of the bass player (the rest of him being out of view on the giant screen), but these guys were really tight. It's just a pity that they were playing at 1pm as they would have gone down well later in the day.
In between acts there was a break for album signing and (I'm guessing) to let the Girl's Aloud fans buy their records without feeling like they're in the wrong shop! So it was after a couple of double espressos that I arrived back to watch Reuben. By now the kids were going for it, bouncing up and down, elbowing CDs off the racks and having a blast. Again I had the pleasure of watching the band via the "big screen". The sound was great for such an obscure setting, but as much as Reuben's brand of rock sounded polished, they didn't make me want to bounce like Yourcodenameismilo. Anyway, I needed to conserve my energy. Two bands down, three to go.
Icelandic rockers Minus were everything I expected from an Icelandic rock group. Dressed in black, the colour of death and doing their own take on the whole Led Zeppelin thing. Good but not my cup of tea.
Biffy Clyro returned to Kerrang's Day of Rock after receiving a massive thumb's up following last year's performance - impressing me most out of everyone today. Their unique indie-rock blend sounded amazingly fresh and different continuing the legacy of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai and various other great Scottish bands before them.
lostprophets had been saved 'til last and though still free, entry was gained by queuing up from nine in the morning for the obligatory entrance armband. Considering it was at least 9.30pm before the Welsh outfit arrived on stage, it took the most dedicated of fans to hang in there until their performance. For me, the light-weight that I am, I was shattered! It was going to take something really amazing to get me fired up and bopping. I'm afraid that they didn't ever quite deliver, in fact they were just OK. Sure they look cute (Ian Watkins in particular), but I think they know it. It's always difficult for the music when it has to battle its way past the bands egos to reach the audience's ears.
When they first appeared on the scene, I got a little excited. These could have been the guys to help save the charts and give Britpop a kick up the backside with the alternative edge it had been missing. Today these Welsh boys played some new material and I hate to say it, but they've gone all nu-metal on us. They just sound so American which is such a shame when our airwaves are already saturated by the Yankee brand of "flat-pack" easy-assemble music. If Biffy Clyro are a bespoke hand-carved table, lostprophets are an MFI kitchen! [Nothing wrong with MFI - The avoiding-legal-action Ed]
So Kerrang!, I had a fun day out, but next year, use your heads.....You know who I want to see headline the bill!