Merry Xmas - here's 30 more Download bands

DOWNLOAD Festival's booking gurus have delivered an early Christmas present for metal fans with an announcement of 30 - yes 30 - stonking acts for next summer's event.

Shinedown, Killswitch Engage, Down and Don Broco are among the deluge heading to Donington Park in June.

Architects, Neck Deep, Tremonti, Gojira, Ghost, Billy Talent, Saxon and The Amity Affliction will join them across the weekend.

Halestorm, Beartooth and Twin Atlantic are also among the shit-ton of additions sure to get your bells jingling all the way.

You can check out all the new names joining the likes of Rammstein, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Korn, Disturbed and Deftones at download.co.uk

Reading Festival - Day Two

Indie rock king Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys...pic by Sidney Bernstein

EVEN from first thing in the morning, there is a sense of expectation and excitement in the air with the Arctic Monkeys waiting for us at the end of the day.

But that's still some time away. The day for RealSoundsOK starts with a touch of Tea Street Band in the Dance Tent before heading to Lonely The Brave on the NME stage.

Like Twin Atlantic yesterday, it's a tight little set that gears you up for a day of music without really getting you over-excited. I was, perhaps, put out by vocalist David Jakes taking up position at the rear of the stage by the drums rather than near the front. A band needs a leader, doesn't it?

My disappointment was not helped by a "quick" jaunt back to the car that took the best part of an hour and saw us miss Royal Blood. 

Lower Than Atlantis rocked it...pic by Joshua Halling

However, RealSoundsOK was back on site in time to catch Lower Than Atlantis deliver an absorbing set. Kicking off with If The World Was To End, they also performed favourites like (Motor)Way Of Life and Deadliest Catch alongside new tracks English Kids In America and Here We Go for the finale. Great stuff.

We saw some of The Hives as well as Foster The People and Imagine Dragons, none of whom managed to impress enough to make me want to see them again. And I'm gutted I made the decision to see some of these over Don Broco, whose performance - on replay - trumped them all. Sorry guys.

Another tough choice came later on as we decided against watching new kid on the block Jake Bugg (who earlier did a secret acoustic set on the BBC Introducing Stage) in favour of Bombay Bicycle Club. It was the right decision.

For me, Bugg's sound is not original. Too many of his tracks "sounds a bit like...". Bombay Bicycle Club sounded different - with a vibe and sense of fun from their indie rock that had been missing from too many of the bands today.

And, rightly, the NME tent was packed out for them - a cracking feat when the child prodigy was up against them on the Main stage.

The Hives...pic by Sidney Bernstein

Enthusiasm returned, it was over to the Main stage for the Arctic Monkeys. I've always been put out by the fact so many people tell me I have to like AM. And to spite them, I don't own any of their albums.

They are - however - purveyors of superb, British rock n roll music and in Alex Turner - who is slowly turning into The Fonz - they have one of the suavest frontmen in music today.

Starting with Do I Wanna Know?, the Sheffield lads performed a whopping 20-song set as they wound down their UK tour of their album AM.

Dancing Shoes, Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair, Crying Lightning, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, When The Sun Goes Down were all included in a triumphant performance before an encore of One For The Road, Snap Out Of It and R U Mine?

British indie rock music at its best. Smooth, cocky and sounding superb.

Pretty Reckless and Don Broco head to Reading and Leeds

DON Broco and The Pretty Reckless are among a new wave of bands added to the line up for this year's Reading and Leeds Festivals.

The two bands will both play the main stage with Bedford's Don Broco performing on the Friday at Leeds and Sunday at Reading, while New Yorkers The Pretty Reckless are at Reading on the Friday and Leeds on the Saturday.

The NME/Radio 1 stage also grows with Night Engine, Darwin Deez, Deaf Havana, Villagers and Wavves joining the bill.

And among those joining the Lock Up/Rock stage are Feed The Rhino, Rat Attack, Sonic Boom Six, Filter and Hackavists.

For full line up and ticketing details visit www.readingfestival.com or www.leedsfestival.com

My Little Empire debut new video for Solitude

INDIE pop rockers My Little Empire premiered their new video on Monday for their single Solitude, which goes on sale on Monday.

The video, which was revealed exclusively by online music magazine Ourzone, was shot by Ian Collins, who has previously worked with Shadows Chasing Ghosts and Acoda.

The Hertfordshire, UK, four-piece count Foo Fighters and Kids In Glass Houses among their influences and hope to follow in the footsteps of Friendly Fires, Enter Shikari and Gallows, who have emerged from the local music scene in their home county.

Indeed, the single Solitude was recorded by Thomas Mitchener, who produced the new Gallows album.

My Little Empire are made up of Rob Dodkin (vocals, guitars), Keith Sayers (bass), Stuart Hurley (guitars) and Nathan Wright (drums). They formed in 2010 and have already performed alongside Don Broco, Spycatcher and Bastille.

You can find out more from the band via the following links:
www.mylittleempire.net
www.soundcloud.com/mylittleempire
www.facebook.com/mylitttleempire
www.twitter.com/mleband
www.mleband.tumblr.com