Goin’ Down De Mont

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Bruce Pegg

Welcome to the page for

Goin’ Down De Mont: A History of Rock Concerts at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall

the forthcoming book by author and rock historian Bruce Pegg.

De_Montfort_Hall

De Montfort Hall, Leicester, in 2010.

Background: In 2015, I started to write down my memories of rock concerts I had attended at the De Montfort Hall when I was a teenager growing up in Leicester during the 1970s. As the project developed, I invited a number of my old friends to contribute, and I eventually published the stories here on brucepegg.com as a series of blog posts under the heading Aya Gooin’ Down De Mont? Continue reading →

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Review: Steve Hackett (Riviera Theater, Tonawanda NY. September 12, 2019)

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Bruce Pegg

It took me a long, long time to catch up with Steve Hackett.

Forty-two years, 7 months, and 22 days to be exact. Continue reading →

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Review: Iron Maiden (KeyBank Center, Buffalo NY. August 13, 2019)

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Bruce Pegg

The last time I saw the Mighty Maiden, in Toronto on their 2017 Book of Souls tour, I marveled at the energy they still generated on stage after delivering almost 40 years of uncompromising in-your-face metal to the masses.

This time, though, catching up with Eddie and the boys wasn’t quite so satisfying.

Continue reading →

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#runstreak day 475: The End of the Streak and a European Runcation (Photoessay)

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Bruce Pegg

On April 20, at around 5:30 in the evening, I finished a lazy two-mile run around the neighborhood.

It was an unremarkable way to end a remarkable sequence. A 475-day #runstreak, encompassing 2,285.52 total running miles, had come to an end.

Continue reading →

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Review: Coheed & Cambria/Mastodon (Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park NJ. June 4, 2019)

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Bruce Pegg

As any runner will tell you, catching up always brings its own set of problems.

Especially when you’re really behind. Continue reading →

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CD Review: THE COFFIN TRAIN – Diamond Head (Silver Lining, 2019)

Posted on May 29, 2019 by Bruce Pegg

Make no mistake. The Coffin Train isn’t your father’s Diamond Head album.

This eighth album by the Stourbridge metal warriors may feature plenty of nods to the bands’ now forty-year-old roots. But at the same time, it points toward an altogether different future — hard rocking, of course, but also more progressive and complex than its forebears.

Which is in no way a bad thing. Continue reading →

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Catching up with Diamond Head

Posted on May 19, 2019 by Bruce Pegg

It’s been a while since The Guv’nor caught up with Diamond Head — almost two years, in fact, since he waved goodbye to the band after their show at Sharkey’s in Liverpool, NY.

Since then, the rollercoaster ride that is DH has continued unabated. Problems with management companies, record labels, and tour promoters have gone hand-in-hand with a difficult yet ultimately triumphant tour of Europe and a groundbreaking new album, The Coffin Train.

To find out everything that has happened to the band since September 2017,  The Guv’nor caught up with guitarist Andy “Abbz” Abberley, bassist Dean Ashton, and vocalist Rasmus Bom Anderson.

Here’s what they had to say.

Continue reading →

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Review: Bruce Cockburn (Asbury Hall, Buffalo NY. May 8, 2019)

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Bruce Pegg

If the concerts I am attending this year have a collective theme, it would have to be Catching Up.

With Bruce Cockburn, it’s been almost a decade since last I saw him (May 2011 at The Egg in Albany to be exact). That was the year the normally prolific Canadian singer-songwriter released Small Source of Comfort; since then, the rest of the world and I have had to wait for the follow up, 2017’s Bone on Bone.

Now nearly two years’ old, the album has become a worthy addition to the Cockburn canon, as the night’s set opener, “States I’m In,” perfectly illustrated. If there was anyone in attendance who was unfamiliar with his work — which is hard to believe considering Cockburn’s career is now well into its sixth decade — it was the best possible introduction.

Continue reading →

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#runstreak Day 441. Almost Déjà Vu: The 2019 United Airlines NYC Half Marathon

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Bruce Pegg

There are some advantages to running a race more than once. At least you know what you’re in for. You know every twist and turn of the course. You know how to train for it. You know your strategy by heart.

But repeat appearances also have their share of problems, and my second New York City Half Marathon was a combination of both. Continue reading →

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Review: Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt (Kodak Center, Rochester NY. February 27, 2019)

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Bruce Pegg

2019 is shaping up to be quite a year for concerts. From old school metal to folk, and from contemporary prog to classic rock, The Guv’nor’s calendar is already pretty full.

First up was this little gem:

Continue reading →

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