Christmas Rocks in Newcastle!

Postgraduate Hubstar Callum recently attended two days of 'Christmas Rock Legends' at the o2 Academy in Newcastle. The three-day festival saw 18 of the UK's best tribute bands performing at the city centre venue, including tributes to Motorhead, Slipknot, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Metallica and Bryan Adams.

Day One

'Christmas Rock Legends' caught my eye in October. I enjoy rock music and I especially enjoy a good tribute act. The line-up was incredible, I had never been to the o2 Academy in Newcastle before, and I wanted to see a mixture of national and local tribute bands play songs from my favourite artists! I came back to campus early especially for this event.

I arrived slightly late and caught the end of 'Rage Against 'Em', no points for guessing who they tribute! Secondly was 'Van Hailen'. A fantastic band, and the venue was filling up nicely.

Metallica tribute band 'Metal Militia' were next, they were incredible and the first band I was super-hyped for. What surprised me throughout the two nights I attended was the quality of these musicians. On top of that, a ticket for a five-hour gig was only £12 per night, an absolute bargain.

One of the highlights of the night was the tribute to Lemmy, almost one year since his death.

 The headliner was Newcastle's very own 'Slipknowt'. Nine members from the area who all clearly had a passion to replicate Slipknot's intensity and high energy for the attending crowd. This involved crowd surfing, audience engagement and some fantastic tributes to classic songs!

Day Two

Day two started with the 'Reet Hot Chili Peppers', a band I grew up with, and what a start to the show. A belting band who played some of the RHCP best.

I am a Bryan Adams fan, not the biggest, but a fan. Heaven is one of my favourite songs, ever. No pressure on 'Bryan Adams Exposed' from my point of view. They were one of the best live bands I've ever heard, tribute act or not. They were absolutely immense, one of the highlights across the two days.

Next up, a band I'm sure most of us can sing along with, 'Green Days'. Great tribute band, and they were supporting the remaining artists from the crowd for the rest of the night, great to see.

The people of Newcastle upped the atmosphere for our final three acts and, wow, what a final three it was!

First up, 'Nightrain', named after a Guns N' Roses song. Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City and - yet again, one of my personal favourites - November Rain, all got the crowd in unified applause.

The penultimate act were 'Whitesnake UK', a band I'm familiar with but couldn't name many songs. They were incredible musicians and had a great lead vocalist. Again, the Newcastle crowd were loud in singing along.

The headliner for the entire Christmas Rock Legends festival was 'Bon Jovi Forever', and all I can say is, 'wow'. This tribute band ticked all of the boxes; audience engagement and brilliant musicians. If you closed your eyes, you'd probably think Bon Jovi were there!

If anyone knows of any upcoming tribute gigs, do let us know! And if you ever get a chance to attend a Christmas Rocks even at the o2 Academy in Newcastle, do it!!