Gig: 7/24/2004, The Alarm, The Venue, Edinburgh,

So most of us were half a mile back from the stage in the heaving, sweating darkness but returning after a six month British absence The Alarm were bound to break down all the barriers and set Heaven alight. Sure enough by the middle of the second number ‘Where Were You Hiding?’ the venue was transformed into the Cardiff Arms Park of punk – the roaring hymns and driving anthems, [read more]

Description: Credits:Photo Provided By Shaun Finnie

The album title tells it. The Alarm, once ardent sons of ’68 Guns’ have, in their time, hopped, skipped, and straddled most conceivable and accepted rock styles – falling in and out of favour as they’ve done so. If ‘Change” does transcend their solid base of appreciation, then it will almost certainly be helped by Mike Peters’ stark, homespun words streaked with apparent Welsh pride and tarnished emotion. “The valley [read more]