One of the perks of the job, if you are a music fan, is getting into gigs and seeing bands for free. Guest list plus one was the norm but the top prize was an access all areas laminate pass – as Wayne and Garth have already kindly pointed out when they saw Alice Cooper in the film Wayne’s World. And, if you are a photographer, a photo pass allowed you into the photographer’s pit in front of the pit – usually three songs and no flash but I had to bend the rules on occasion in some dingy clubs where the lighting was far too low such as on this occasion. I do like this shot bearing in mind it was actually taken on a compact camera. Of course the other side of the bargain is that you would write a review to generate some publicity for the band or artist. Here is one of my reviews which includes a memory of an infamous mic stand incident from an earlier gig…

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes at The Brickyard: Review by Ian Duncan

WHEN I first caught Frank Carter live he threw his mic stand at me, missing my head by inches.

He was fronting his band Gallows in early 2007 and his brother, who was the bandʼs guitarist, was a music student in Scarborough where I was working at the time.

They were plugging their debut CD release and Frank and the boys travelled north to play a student festival on a bitterly cold February night in some disused train sheds.

I can remember being impressed by the ferocity and energy of the punk singerʼs performance which was nicely topped off with his trademark guttural snarling growl.

But then he disappeared from my musical radar, only to resurface earlier this year with an increased collection of tattoos, a new band and album due out later this year.

First on stage at The Brickyard, Carlisle, were support band Loom with their own brand of screaming grunge.

The lead singer did not hang about before jumping into the crowd, before ending their short set slumped against the front of the stage exhausted.

Next up were punk quartet Milk Teeth complete with an energetic female bass player whose haunting vocals contrasted with the lead singerʼs more in-your-face lyrical delivery.

And when The Rattlesnakes hit the stage I was surprised to see Frank Carter grab his microphone and head for the middle of the audience like an extreme version of “in the round”.

Now older and wiser, it was good to see that he has lost none of that anger that originally made him the poster boy of nu-punk at the end of the last decade.

He encouraged the crowd to gather around before launching into his high-octane vocal delivery — you know that he is putting his heart and soul into every performance.

It was probably the first time that a lot of the audience members had heard any of the tracks from the forthcoming album, but they lapped them up and willingly joined in shouting their approval.

At one point a guy grabbed the microphone away from the singer and ably filled in for the main man. The band backed him up on stage and seemed incredibly tight considering they have only been together for a short period of time.

Although the audience numbers were lower than for other dates on this short June tour, Frank repeatedly thanked everyone for coming along and seemed genuinely pleased to have their support for his latest project.

And everyone joined with the final track, I Hate You, bellowing with gusto and feeling every venomous sentiment of the rant.

It rounded off what was a relatively short set, which was not padded out with any Gallows or Pure Love favourites, and I was impressed that the band took the time to chat to fans afterwards.

From The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald on Saturday, June 20, 2015.