Rip & Tear [Gig Review]

Gunzo + Chase The Ace + Stone Trigger

The Diamond

Sutton-in-Ashfield

15.09.15

I’ve been to some high profile gigs at the Diamond in Sutton-in-Ashfield in 2015, Ricky Warwick & Damon Johnson (Black Star Riders) Danny Vaughn & Dan Reed (Tyketto/Dan Reed Network) Mike Tramp (White Lion) and back in January, Phil Lewis (LA Guns),

Tonight is no exception to that list, Gunzo are a ‘super group’ who’s chief protagonists are Tracii Guns (Guns N’ Roses/LA Guns/Brides of Destruction) and Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot/Ozzy/Whitesnake/BOC) both with rock n’ roll pedigrees that go back decades.

This September, Gunzo have embarked on a ten date tour of the Uk and the Diamond is the last one in England, Belfast being the final show of the tour the night after.

First onto the stage are Stone Trigger from Dublin Ireland these youngster weren’t even born when Tracii and Rudy were starting out on there musical careers. With a front man (Tommy Rockit)[Left] who’s obviously modelled himself on W. Axl Rose, Stone Trigger are lively and clearly enjoying themselves on stage.

Playing half an hour the boys from the emerald isle only manage to perform five songs manly due to the banter from their lead singer, at one point the man himself (Tracii Guns) arrives onto the stage bedecked in his bath towel having seemingly just exited the shower only to ‘flash’ his ass at the crowd when he left. You can tell these boys have been having great fun on tour.

Musically Stone Trigger are somewhat predictable however both guitarists (Ronnie Velvet and Andrew Callaly) produce a cool sound together and with only four original songs in their set it’s hard to weigh them up on this appearance.

The main support tonight is Chase The Ace a band that come from Tel Aviv Israel, I’ve seen them several times before and boy do these guys rock! They’ve been on the road for around two years now, constantly playing gigs and festivals all over the UK and mainland Europe. After tonight’s show they hook up with Hardcore Superstar and Michael Monroe to do a seventeen date European tour.

Chase The Ace are: Roi Vito Peleg (Vocals/Rhythm Guitar) [Right] Yam Artzy (Drums/Back Vocals) Dan Parsons (Lead Guitar/Back Vocals) and Yair Gadon (Bass/Back Vocals)

With songs like The Cat is on the Loose, Bad Seed and Raise Your Glass, Chase The Ace get the crowd at the Diamond well and truly warmed up and if you like what you see and hear their debut album ‘Are You Ready’ is on sale tonight along with an array of merchandise.

                                                         Michael O'Mara & Tracii Guns

Onto the main part of the show and enter Gunzo, the afore mentioned Tracii Guns (lead guitar) is now wearing his pants so that’s all good. Rudy Sarzo (bass) Shane Fitzgibbons (drums/backing vocals) and Michael O’Mara (lead vocals) make up the rest of this super group. Prior to the tour lead singing duties were in the hands of Keith St.John (Montrose) why the last minute switch? Well that’s any ones guess, Michael O’Mara sure hadn’t a clue when I spoke to him after the show.

Any road Gunzo play to an awe inspired crowd with Guns and Sarzo living up to their legendary status, their set consists of around half a dozen LA Guns songs, Over the Edge, Sex Action, Electric Gypsy and Rip and Tear being the pick of the crop.

Rudy Sarzo

The rest of the set is made up of songs from other bands manly bands that Rudy Sarzo has played in, a couple of Ozzy numbers, I Don’t Know and Crazy Train, Whitesnake’s Fool For Your Lovin’, Dio’s Rainbow in the Dark and Quiet Riot’s Slick Black Cadillac. The Montrose song Rock Candy is in the set and treats us to a very long guitar/bass duel, both Guns and Sarzo amazing the audience with their combined virtuosity.

Michael O’Mara fronts the band admirably, his flawless vocal gymnastics doing every song justice, he’s having a ball as well his effervescent smile is infectious, he duets on Crazy Train with Vito from Chase The Ace and it’s plain to see they’ve had a great time on the road together.

Michael tells us they’ve not played one encore all tour so tonight is a first and Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll rounds off a sensational night here at the Diamond, they exit the stage to chants of Gunzo Gunzo GUNZO! from the enthusiastic crowd. Who knows if this line-up will stay together? That remains to be seen but the way they rip and tear it up on stage will surely have an influence in the matter… GD Manofmetal.

For more info on the bands in this blog visit:

Gunzo: http://www.gunzorocks.com/

Chase The Ace: http://chasetheaceband.com/

Stone Trigger: https://www.facebook.com/StoneTrigger?fref=ts

                                                                         Rudy Sarzo & GD

                                 

All Videos From The Diamond By GD...

Moving On, The Nomad [Gig Review]

Mike Tramp + Lucer

The Diamond

Sutton-in-Ashfield

09.09.15

With the release of ‘Nomad’ his third solo album in as many years Mike Tramp keeps moving on and he’s back at the Diamond in Sutton-in-Ashfield for the fourth time in three years.

His previous visits have all been acoustic ‘one man shows’ with Tramp treating his audience to a set made up of White Lion, Freak of Nature and solo material accompanied with many rock n’ roll anecdotes. This time however it’s a fully ‘plugged in’ show with the boys from Lucer (the support band) accompanying Tramp on stage for his set.

What of Lucer then? Well they’re fellow countrymen of Mike Tramp’s who is somewhat their mentor, they are literally on the road with him, he’s the acting chauffeur for this tour. Hailing from Copenhagen Lucer consists of the two charismatic brothers Lasse Bøgemark (lead vocals/bass) and Anders Bøgemark (lead guitar) and drummer Jonathan Nørgaard they’ve played many shows in the Scandinavian region and are about to release their debut album “Bring Me Good News” it’s not out yet but the boys have brought advanced copies to sell at the venues they’re playing on this tour. A tour which spans eight countries and runs from late August to early October.

Playing about half an hour Lucer’s half dozen songs are a mix of hard rock with catchy riffs, a couple of their songs remind me of early Oasis a thought that came to fruition when later in the evening whilst on stage with Mike Tramp he said the Bøgemark brothers reminded him of the bad ass Gallagher brothers except these guys liked to talk to each other.

If you have work the day after a Mike Tramp gig make sure you’re not in till late because his shows tend to run on and on, tonight he’s only playing fifteen songs but being a natural raconteur the set runs over the two hour mark. The art of being a great storyteller is not to repeat yourself a feat deftly accomplished by Tramp as he spins his amusing yarns not only between songs but during as well.

Even though his anecdotes of the rock business from the 80’s to the present along with more serious pearls of wisdom about life the universe and everything are most engaging it’s the music we are here for.

Sadly for the opening night of the UK leg of the tour the audience is a little sparse, this however is not a deterrent for the rock n’ roll nomad, Mike Tramp loves this venue and no matter how many are in attendance he gives it one hundred percent. Only fond memories will he take from playing here, unlike Madison Square Gardens where is only lasting memory is having an argument with White Lion’s guitarist Vito Bratta.

Opening the show with ‘Hungry’ from the 1987 White Lion album ‘Pride’ the majority of the set is comprised of material from Tramps many solo albums, great songs like ‘Better Off’ from the album ‘Capricorn’ and ‘Cobblestone Street’ from the album of the same name.

His latest album ‘Nomad’ is represented with four songs in the set, all new to me and many in the audience, the best of these in my opinion is ‘High Like a Mountain’ a future ‘classic’.

Of course White Lion numbers like ‘Little Fighter’, ‘When the Children Cry’ and ‘Broken Heart’ are included however not so ‘Wait’ or ‘Lady of the Valley’.

At one point in the show Tramp apologises to me for not playing any Freak of Nature songs, my T-Shirt is from 1993 when Freak of Nature were ‘the resident house band in the UK’ and the ‘happiest time of my life’ Tramp reminisces.

I’m not at all offended that he didn’t play any Freak of Nature songs because ‘while there’s a chance of the original line-up reforming I don’t wanna play any of those songs’ he informs us, Fingers crossed for that happening then.

The final song tonight is ‘More to Life Than This’ from Tramps third solo album I’m not sure there is more to life than this, a great live rock n’ roll show what more could you want?

At the end of the evening both Mike Tramp and the Lucer boys come to the front of the stage and literally open suitcases full of merchandise selling albums, T-Shirts, chatting and posing for photographs etc. they bring to an end a wonderful gig. Many thanks must go to The Diamond putting the show on and good luck for the rest of the tour to Mike and his boys a road trip I’m sure they’ll never forget. ‘Six Chinese takeaways in one street’ was the dismayed observation from Lucer when Tramp showed them around Sutton-in-Ashfield, I hope they’re all Hungry!... GD Manofmetal.

Left: GD Manofmetal With Mike Tramp @ The Diamond Sutton-in-Ashfield (Sep 2015)

For more information about Mike Tramp visit: http://miketramp.dk/home

For more information about Lucer visit: http://mightymusic.dk/albums/lucer/






All Videos from the Diamond by GD Manofmetal:

East Town Horrors [Gig Review]

East Town Pirates + Headstone Horrors

Tap N’ Tumbler

Nottingham

28.05.15

It’s time to splice the mainsail and batten down the hatches as we set sail on a voyage which was set in motion way back in August last year at the Rebellion Festival in the seaside town of Blackpool.

Yes me hearties both tonight’s bands here at Nottingham’s famous Tap n’ Tumbler public house were on the bill at the 2014 rebellion festival and that scurvy old sea dog GD Manofmetal had a hand in getting East Town Pirates and Headstone Horrors together all be it about nine months later.

Having introduced both lead singers Natalie Thornton and Rikki Flag to each other back in the winter gardens Blackpool it’s great to see them finally here in the same room getting ready to play a gig together.

Below: Nat (Headstone Horrors)

Headstone Horrors are on first and after playing an unplugged set last weekend in Derby I’m glad to see the Nottingham based horror punk band are back to full strength this week. Dick Venom (of Dick Venom & the Terrortones fame) is the new incumbent behind the skins while the rest of the personnel are original band members Jimmy Faulkner (lead guitar/vocals) Paul Taylor (bass) and Nat (Girlfixer) Thornton (lead vocals).

Playing about a half hour set Headstone Horrors build up the momentum on their Tap N’ Tumbler debut, I’m glad they’re including some new material namely ‘Tales From the Murder House’ my new favourite HH song weather plugged in or acoustic it kicks ass.

Most of the TNT crowd are no strangers to the support band and some more familiar songs such as ‘Frankenstein’s Girl’ ‘From the Morgue’ and ‘Midnight Massacre’ get the audience energized.

All in all a significant first appearance at this venue for Headstone Horrors and I’m sure it won’t be their last.

Below: Rikki (ETP)

A couple of years ago GD was shanghaied by a motley crew of salty dogs from the eastern town of Ipswich, having been on many glorious raids with these scurvy pirates tonight promises to be one of the best voyages to date.

Having our horror punk appetites sated by a more than worthy support band it’s soon time to stop friggin’ in the rigging and visit the ‘Glory Days’ as the East Town Pirates hit the stage full of Honeyed Jack curtsey of Captain Craig (TNT landlord Craig Sharp-Weir) who is also marketing a Rikki Flag veggie burger, is there no end to this man’s entrepreneurial skills?

Classic sing-a-long numbers such as ‘One For M’Lady’ ‘John Dobbs’ Bones’ and ‘A Smugglers Song’ are all standard fair at an ETP gig but tonight we were treated to a brand new song ‘Ship of Fools’ promises to become another ‘classic’.

Also included tonight are a couple of rarely played covers, UK Subs ‘Higher Tide’ and the traditional sea shanty ‘What Shall We do With a Drunken Sailor’ being given a punked up makeover.

The crew of the ETP are Rikki Flag (vocals) Seamus Ridgwellington (bass/vocals) Kev Moore (guitar/vocals) Jonnie Murder (guitar/vocals) and Rayna Terror (drums) collectively they imbue the audience with unlimited merriment as they rattle off one jig dancing gem after another.

Earlier in the evening Rikki told me the band were due to go into the recording studio to lay down some long over due new tracks, he said they had six songs ready to go so maybe not quite enough for album number three yet but a mini album or super EP could be in the offing.

Below: Rikki & Seamus (ETP)

The only downside to tonight’s show is that it’s a Thursday night and not the weekend so after the final song is played I have only minutes to say my farewells before jumping ship and escaping back to dry land. Judging by all the smiling faces at the Tap N’ Tumbler tonight it won’t be too long before the boys from the east coast return to plunder and pillage in Nottingham again… GD Manofmetal.

For further information on tonight’s bands & Venue visit:

Eat town Pirates: https://www.facebook.com/easttownpirates.1

Headstone horrors: https://www.facebook.com/HeadstoneHorrors?fref=ts

Tap N’ Tumbler: http://tapntumbler.co.uk/

All Videos From Tap N' Tumbler by GD:

Below: Acoustic Headstone Horrors Video From Hairy Dog Derby by GD:

Snake Oil & Harmony (Gig Review)

Danny Vaughn & Dan Reed

The Diamond

Sutton-in-Ashfield

24.03.15

When I heard that Danny Vaughn (Tyketto) and Dan Reed (Dan Reed Network) were teaming up to do collaboration tour I made it a priority to get tickets to at least one of the shows. The tour kicked off at the Diamond Sutton-in-Ashfield which is just up the road from me and the first one hundred to book tickets received a complimentary glass of bubbly and access to a rather sumptuous buffet, so the Diamond it is then.

I’m coming at this gig primarily as a Tyketto and Danny Vaughn fan, I’ve only heard of Dan Reed due to his success with his band Dan Reed Network and that was around a quarter of a century ago. However I just know this is going to be something special, it’s Danny and Dan on stage treating us to an acoustic rendition of both of their back catalogues as well as a few covers thrown in.

Danny Vaughn

The duo met for the first time at download festival last year, an astonishing fact when you consider their paths must have crossed many times over the years. Danny Vaughn tells us he’s not looking at the colourfully named Snake Oil & Harmony tour as just another tour but more of a ‘life experience’ and listening to the banter between the pair I can understand what Danny means.

Two very different Americans are sitting on the diamond stage tonight however the thing they have most in common is their love for playing acoustic (unplugged) music.

Danny treats us to many Tyketto songs, ‘Wings’ ‘The End of the Summer Days’ ‘Standing Alone’ and ‘Forever Young’ being the pick of the crop while Dan plays some songs from his brand new album ‘Transmission’ and some old classics like the brilliant ‘Rainbow Child’.

As the tour progresses I’m sure their collaboration will only grow stronger, by their own admission they hadn’t done a lot of rehearsal prior to the tour, so it’s very much a Vaughn song followed by a Reed song as the two hour set unfolded.

I’ve never been to an acoustic gig before where the crowd (and there’s plenty here) have respectfully remained silent during the songs, a testimony to the quality of the performers here tonight.

                                                          Dan Reed

A couple of very different characters are seated before us, Danny regales us with show biz tales and amusing anecdotes including the ‘hair’ dilemma (he has an abundance of it while Dan shaved all his off a long time ago) whereas Dan comes across more melancholy, political, theological and sociological topics occupy his dialogue and song lyrics, however he is still a very amusing fellow. We are all absorbed by Dan’s Buddhist monk story, keeping it short basically after leaving the music industry behind for many years Dan Reed ended up in northern India with a bunch of Buddhist monks who asked him to teach them the Queen song ‘We Will rock you’ this made him realise he needed music back in his life (it was way funnier when he told it I promise).

The mammoth two hour set is rounded off with two covers, Dan sings the Dio song ‘Holy Diver’ after both men have eulogised about their respective experiences of the great man. Finally the show finishes with Danny singing the Eagles song ‘Take it Easy’ Dan Reed confesses to not having learnt it yet to which Danny replied ‘I get an extra 5% then’ this kind of repartee between the duo makes for an exalted double act I’m certain will live on beyond the eleven dates of the Snake Oil & Harmony tour. In the short term maybe more live shows will be added later in the year or next year, in the long term, who knows perhaps a writing collaboration and an album. I realise this may sound a bit far fetched at this stage but on the strength of their first live show together I think anything is possible.

Danny & Dan @ The Diamond

After the show both guys came out to meet and greet us signing anything and everything both were more than happy to chat and pose for photos in a relaxed and informal manner. This attitude and the vast talent they both posses made for a superlative night, Danny & Dan we salute you.

I highly recommend you get your selves along to one of the shows on this tour before its too late… GD Manofmetal.  

All videos From The Diamond by GD:

Kings & Killer Instincts (Part 2 The Gig Review)

Europe + Black Star Riders + The Amorettes

Rock City

Nottingham

10.03.15

After schmoozing with the stars in the afternoon interviews for Total Rock radio, what seems like a mere blink of the eye passes by and it’s time for the action to begin. With a seven fifteen stage call The Amorettes deliver a forty minute set of songs from their new album ‘Game On’ the album is produced by Chris Tsangarides (that easy for you to say) the girls told me earlier that they basically went into the studio and played as live for the recording.

Songs like ‘bull by the horns’ ‘fire at will’ and ‘shoot from the hip’ are rousing rock anthems that I’m sure will take this thee peace all girl band far, their live performance being packed with energy underlines the power of the songs. Gill Montgomery’s strong voice and accomplished lead guitar playing is more than noteworthy whilst sisters Hannah and Heather McKay provide a more than capable rhythm section. Rock City at this point is in the process of filling up and I can see the crowd reaction to The Amorettes grow by the second, after the show I heard many agreeable things being said about the three girls from mid Scotland and I’m sure we will hear a lot more from this band in the future.

Gill Montgomery

Inevitably with a double headline tour it’s always difficult to decide who should be on last, both Europe and Black Star Riders will be playing a full set so as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter but some would have preferred BSR to have gone on last or at least that’s the vox populus I got here in Nottingham.

Regardless of all that, it’s BSR next and what a show they deliver for us, they open with ‘bound for glory’ their first single from a couple of years ago then it’s straight into a cover of Thin Lizzy’s ‘jailbreak’ followed by ‘kingdom of the lost’ from their debut album ‘all hell breaks loose’. What a start that is, front man Ricky Warwick loves playing Rock City at one point he tells us that it must easily be the venue he’s played most in the UK over his years with the Almighty, Thin Lizzy and now BSR, he’s also played here quite a lot in various solo projects a s well.

Ricky Warwick

The fourth song in the set is from their brand new album ‘the killer instinct’ and ‘Charlie I gotta go’ is one of my favourites from that disc, it’s great to see them play it live. In fact with only six covers (Thin Lizzy) in tonight’s performance BSR I feel have come of age as a band, with the rest of the songs being their own, good songs too like ‘hoodoo voodoo’ and another very emotive number from their new album ‘soldierstown’ and yes it’s about Belfast.

BSR personnel reads an impressive roll call, the aforementioned Ricky Warwick (lead vocals/guitar) needs no introduction neither does Scott Gorham (lead guitar) Damon Johnson (lead guitar) has played with the likes of Alice Cooper, Stevie Nicks and Carlos Santana. Robbie Crane (bass) Ratt, Lynch Mob and last but not least Jimmy DeGrasso (drums) who’s CV is too long to fully go into here but I’ll just say Ozzy Osbourne, Y&T and Megadeth.  

BSR finish off with the title track from the new album and an encore guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser, ‘whiskey in the jar’ brings the curtain down on a rousing performance one that will live on in the memory for quite some time, BSR have emerged from the shadow of Thin Lizzy and arrived with a bang.

Damon Johnson & Scott Gorham

By the time Europe enter the fray everyone crammed into the hallowed great hall of Rock City Nottingham is well and truly warmed up and ready for more. The Swedish rockers open their set with not one but two songs from their new album ‘war of kings’ the title track and track two ‘hole in my pocket’ a brave opening gambit but both songs are heavy weight compositions. In fact with every album Europe release I gain more respect for their song writing and all round showmanship, long gone is the big hair and light weight output of the early eighties. And to prove that the third song in the set tonight is ‘last look at Eden’ from their 2009 album of the same name, that song is epic.

Joey Tempest

The current line-up is the ever present Joey Tempest (lead vocals) John Norum (lead guitar) John Leven (bass) Mic Michaeli (keys) Ian Haugland (drums) and together they form a tight unit.

About a third of the set is comprised of songs from the new album, ‘the second day’ ‘praise you’ and ‘days of rock ‘n roll’ joining the first two played tonight, all splendid stuff. Obviously the holy trinity are included, no Europe show would be complete without ‘superstitious’ ‘rock the night’ and ‘the final countdown’ however many of the old favourites like ‘Cherokee’ were excluded tonight in favour of newer songs. Earlier in the day I learned from the Jon Leven interview that the band doesn’t like making too many changes to their set but tonight was a big change from when I saw them last year touring with Foreigner.

                                                                          John Leven

What an outstanding evening of rock we’ve had here in Nottingham, a new band, a veteran band and a band who’ve emerged from a veteran band to become a new band. Superlative stuff indeed all three with new albums to promote and new material to perform, whoever said rock n’ roll is dead need to think again because the killer instinct in the war of kings is game on!... GD Manofmetal.

  

Kings & Killer Instincts (Part 1 The Interviews)

Europe + Black Star Riders + The Amorettes

Rock City

Nottingham

10.03.15

So here’s a thing, I get invited along to be the ‘technical support’ by me old mucker Nick Alexander for his Total Rock Radio interviews of the three bands on tonight’s bill at Rock City Nottingham. Well I say technical support; he needed someone to work his video camera for the interviews, an opportunity not to be missed I’m sure you’ll agree.

First up is the front man for Black Star Riders, however due to Ricky Warwick not feeling on top form today we now have BSR lead guitarist Damon Johnson instead. After settling into a small and compact office in the bowels of Rock City Nick begins his interview. I have little to do in the way of duties except to listen and make sure the camera is running and in focus so I can be privy to some searching questions. I have to confess to knowing little of Damon Johnson ok so I’ve seen him play with BSR several times but the minute he opens his mouth to speak it’s obvious which part of the world he comes from, Birmingham Alabama. He answers all the questions with aplomb it’s apparent this polite and amusing Southern gentleman is over the moon with the progress BSR have made over the last few years, they even get air time on BBC radio 2. I look upon them as a brand new band not just ’the band that used to be Thin Lizzy’ their second album ‘The Killer Instinct’ went on general release last month. The tour had a day off yesterday so taking in a little sight seeing and keeping fit seemed to be top of the agenda for Damon, other things I learned from his dulcet tones is his favourite cheese cake is red velvet cheese cake, we don’t have that this side of the Atlantic I’m afraid. It was a privilege to sit in on this interview with such a cool guy it lasted the best part of half an hour and was both amusing and informative.

Below GD & Damon Johnson

Next we are shepherded into The Amorettes dressing room just as Gill the lead guitarist/lead vocalist is heading the other way, still two out of three ain’t bad. The Amorettes are a three piece all girl hard rock band from Scotland and sitting in on the interview with sisters Hannah and Heather McKay (drums and bass respectively) was much fun. Turns out the reason they’re on this tour is because Ricky Warwick (BSR) asked for them personally, not a bad endorsement to be sure. The girls remind me so much of a young Rock Goddess it’s unreal in fact whilst playing a gig in London recently The Amorettes were visited by the ladies of Rock Goddess who are making a come back with a brand new album. Talking of brand new albums ‘Game On’ is the title of The Amorettes new album it’s on sale tonight at the merch stand but has not gone on general release as yet, I’m listening to it as I write this and let me tell you it’s a blistering ten track disc, girl power, you better believe it. On their day off in Nottingham you won’t be surprised to hear the girls went shopping… for shoes no less, not girly high heels but tough trainers that can stand the rigors of their first major tour of the UK.

                                                            GD With Hannah & Heather McKay

After a few minutes wait in the black cherry lounge here at rock city we are introduced to John Leven the bassist of Europe, the veteran Swedish classic rock band. A quiet unassuming man John seemed a little fazed by the more eccentric questions in the interview. Also with a brand new album ‘War of Kings’ just released Europe grow from strength to strength as the years go by. If he wasn’t playing bass in Europe John Leven apparently has no clue as to what else he would be doing and his favourite cheese cake (yes that one again) is strawberry.

I was also interested to hear of the bands trepidation when they played Bloodstock a few years back, ‘we could hear all that growling back stage’ John was referring to the plethora of death metal bands on the bill before they took to the stage. Most bass players I know tend to be extroverts; John Leven on the other hand seemed a little more reserved.

GD & John Leven

All the people we have interviewed today were really cool and talking of cool people just as our Leven interview comes to a close Black Star Riders come walking past on their way to a meet n’ greet session, the inimitable Scott Gorham walks straight up to me and shaking my hand he introduces himself ‘Hi I’m Scott’ (no shit!) after I’ve shook Ricky Warwick’s hand it becomes apparent they’re in the wrong place, Damon Johnson breezes past with a hail and hearty ‘We meet again’ nice guys and great musicians to boot.

So with all the backstage schmoozing in the can as they say it’s time for a few beverages before the bands hit the stage and the show begins. Stay tuned for the second part of this blog which will contain my gig review in full… GD Manofmetal

                          Total Rock Radio's Nick Alexander & GD

Gettin’ Heavy (Gig Review)

Witchfynde

Chameleon Bar

Grantham

13.02.15

Metal Mayhem, not the most original ‘umbrella’ title for a heavy metal night but you know things are getting’ heavy when on Friday the 13^th NWOBHM stalwarts Witchfynde are headlining the sixth evening of mayhem at the Chameleon bar and grill in old Grantham town. Chameleon is just about the right name for this venue as by day they serve mixed grills and rare bloody steaks and by night they have live entertainment for their punters delectation.  

When I heard about tonight’s gig it was an opportunity not to be missed, a trip back to the county of my birth to see a band I’ve not seen for a few years, a band who come from the county I now live in that is Derbyshire. So why you may ask are Witchfynde travelling to Lincolnshire to play what amounts to a ‘shakedown’ gig for their summer festival shows? Well you might well ask, I did and the answer is that new band member Tracey Abbott (he joined last year) has a connection with the Chameleon bar and being as they have a semi regular heavy metal night here, well I’ll leave it to you to do the maths.

Any road everything at the congested Chameleon bar seems to be going to plan. A sound check at half past nine for the support band seems to be the norm here, the support band being Black Sabbatical a… and I quote a ‘musical tribute’ to Black Sabbath. To be fair the guys haven’t been going long and they put in a pretty good performance despite no attempt to look or sound like Black Sabbath, more of a Black Sabbath covers band if you ask me. But they did attract a lot of attention from the crowd.

It’s close to eleven o’clock by the time we’ve had a full kit change and sound check for tonight’s headliners to perform their show, maybe some kind of kit sharing scheme would have been in order, after all isn’t that the main point of having a support? Anyway no amount of waiting is gonna dampen my enthusiasm as the gothic candelabra is lit and Witchfynde finally take to the stage let’s turn the clock back thirty odd years because it’s time to give em’ hell.

It would take too long to give you a full history of Witchfynde so for the uninitiated here’s a quick low-down of the New Waive of British Heavy Metal veterans. Formed in 1974 they split up ten years later in 1984 after achieving success with four studio albums and having bands of the quality of Def Leppard support them on tour. Now sadly for Witchfynde Leppard went on to bigger things whilst they vanished from the metal scene but having reformed in 1999 Witchfynde have continued to entertain fans old and new around the world.

The current line-up of the band is Luther Beltz (lead vocals) Montalo (lead guitar) Pete Surgey (bass) Gra Scoresby (drums) and the aforementioned Tracey Abbott (second guitar) and boy do they hit the ground running. Opening the set with their first single and title track from their first album ‘Give En’ Hell’, it’s a classic of it’s genre, this song is over thirty five years old but it sounds as fresh and new as the day it was written.

‘Gettin’ Heavy’ is next also from their debut album and the ‘B’ side of ‘Give em’ Hell’ whilst the third song is ‘Moon Magic’ from their second album ‘Stagefright’ three classic metal songs one after an other, I’ll wager they’ve heard nothing as good as this at the Chameleon bar before and it will take some doing to better it.

In fact Witchfynde’s entire set which lasts around a hour is packed with ‘classics’ Leaving Nadir, Conspiracy, Stab in the Back to name only three. Its Friday 13^th and lead guitarist, the legendary Montalo (we’re not worthy) seems to be possessed by other worldly forces as his fingers prowl up and down his guitar’s fret board he furnishes us with great riff after great riff and generates the most sublime guitar solos.

No Witchfynde show would be complete without the trademark ‘Cloak and Dagger’ and rounding off tonight’s performance, ‘I’d Rather Go Wild’ both songs giving lead singer Luther Beltz chance to deliver his idiosyncratic ear shattering screams.

It’s close to midnight when inevitably the curtain falls on an awesome show, ‘Tetelestai’ fulfils the role of the encore it’s a song from the early days of Witchfynde’s career and although it doesn’t appear on any album it can now be heard as a bonus track on the CD of Give Em’ Hell. I personally wouldn’t have chosen that number to conclude on I can’t even pronounce it but it’s obviously a favourite of the band. So many great Witchfynde songs were not included tonight, songs like Ready to Roll, Crystal Gazing and Trick or Treat one hour wasn’t enough they could easily have gone on for another sixty minutes nae bother.

This evening was all about honing a performance for future shows both here in England and on the continent this summer. I got the chance to catch up with front man Luther Beltz before the show and he told me they’ve already played one gig with this line-up, late last year in London with Diamond Head and Girlschool and they’ve got several festivals in 2015 to fulfil mainly abroad in countries such as Italy. Also in June Witchfynde are on the bill of the Garage Days festival in Islington along with the likes of Tygers of Pan-Tang, Jaguar and Savage, a NWOBHM treat not to be missed.

The Lords of Sin are still alive and well and playing better than ever, seek them out and go watch a live show and I guarantee you’ll be ready to roll… GD Manofmetal.

Videos of Witchfynde @ The Chameleon Bar by GD 

Warriors of the Road (Gig Review)

Saxon

The Ritz - Rock City

Manchester - Nottingham

04.12.14 - 04.02.15

Last October NWOBHM veterans Saxon embarked on their ‘Warriors of the Road’ world tour a road that would prove a rocky one in more than one sense of the word. Yours truly had planned to go to three shows, Manchester, Nottingham and London, with thirty eight dates on the tour the final dozen were to be played out in the UK and Ireland and everyone would be home for Christmas however the course of true metal never runs smoothly.

With just five days of the tour left to go Saxon’s drummer Nigel Glockler was to fall ill and spend several weeks in a Newcastle hospital leaving the remaining shows to be delayed by exactly two months. I’d already seen the Manchester show a few days before the hiatus and now at last the Warriors tour is over it’s time for this review to go to print.

The Ritz – Manchester:

Good old British rail (or whatever they call it now) is my mode of conveyance to the North West; Manchester has undergone a metamorphosis in recent years so I’m lead to believe however upon arrival at the Oxford road railway station (a mere spitting distance from the Ritz) I find this information to be erroneous, Manchester is still pretty grim.

Way back in 1981 when a teenage GD Manofmetal was in The Saxon Militia Guard (Saxon’s fan club) I went to Manchester to meet up with fellow guardsmen and women to embark on a road trip to Holland to see our spandex clad metal heroes (those were the days) and let me tell you nowt much has changed up here over the intervening years ok they’ve now got a Pret A Manger or two but the general ambience is still that of satanic mills, flat caps, barm cakes and whippets, I know this will get me in trouble with my Manchester friends but, what a dump!

Anyway I digress, let’s get on shall we? The Ritz, what a great venue, it’s façade looks out directly onto a railway viaduct but in side it boasts a capacious stage big enough for Saxon’s massive Warriors of the Road backdrop to be seen in it’s entirety an extensive balcony area and despite the efforts of the over zealous security staff (don’t get me started) a warm and friendly atmosphere.  

Although Skid row had been the main support for the European leg of the tour England’s very own Hell are appearing on the UK and Ireland dates along with Germany’s Beyond the Black.

First up is Beyond the Black [pictured right] a female fronted hard rock band from Mannheim, lead singer Jennifer Haben has a fine voice and brings an ‘Evanescence’ feel to the band while the boys with the toys thrash out a more ‘Pantera’ like sound behind Jennifer’s vocals. I’m afraid it didn’t quite work for me but I’m sure this band will attract many fans around the world who like heavy Goth/Metal.

Next up are the main support and Hell have made huge inroads on the heavy metal scene since their reformation and the release of their debut album Human Remains on he Nuclear Blast label in 2011. The reaction they got from the Manchester crowd was amazing, Hell played around forty minutes of material from their first and second albums and it’s clear they have many fans in this part of the world judging by the amount of Hell tee-shirts being worn tonight. Front man Dave Bower [pictured right] holds the audience captive with his theatrical performance of songs such as On Earth as It Is in Hell, Land Of The Living Dead and Something Wicked This Way Comes. I don’t know if we’ve just been taken down to the satanic furnaces of the underworld but the Ritz crowd have definitely been warmed up good and proper.

The strains of AC/DC’s It’s A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna Rock n’ Roll herald onto the Manchester stage true veterans of British heavy metal, Saxon are into their fifth decade starting out as they did back in the mid 70’s when they were called Son of a Bitch. Most of the songs included in this tours sets are from the ‘Holy Trinity’ albums, that are Wheels of Steel, Strong Arm of the Law from 1980 and Denim and Leather from 1981 although several more numbers from various other albums are also included. I for one am more than happy to hear the song Frozen Rainbow from Saxon’s debut album played here, it’s been many years since I’ve seen it performed live.

With twenty two songs in tonight’s performance Saxon have definitely done the North West proud and after the release of the live album earlier in 2014, St. George’s Day Sacrifice – Live in Manchester there does seem to be a special bond with this crowd. The final song of the night, the classic Denim and Leather saw the entire venue from the back to the front bouncing around and punching the air. Front man Biff Byford seemed truly amazed and was heard to utter “it’s just like the eighties” and I wouldn’t be surprised if this crowd’s reaction is one of the best on the entire thirty eight shows. Take a bow Saxon and take a bow Manchester.

          Above: Saxon Take A Bow 

Rock City Nottingham

Having waited for two months for the Saxon Warriors of the Road tour to resume I’ve sadly decided to give the London show a miss so Rock City in the lovely East Midlands city of Nottingham  will be the final show for me.

A mid week fixture this one so it’s a massive rush to get home from the day job and down to Nottingham in time for the start of the show, sadly Rock City have a 10pm curfew for live bands and with Saxon clocking around two hours for their performance it means that Beyond the Black are on when I’m still on the bus.

I’m in time however for Hell, you could say Nottingham is their home town as all the band members live within about a ten mile radius of the city. They were originally formed back in 1982 and today’s line-up consists of three of the original members namely Tim Bowler (drums) Tony Speakman (bass) and Kev Bower (guitar/keys) they are joined by Dave Bower (lead vocals) and Andy Sneap (lead guitar) [pictured right]. Hell tend to play one song straight after another without a break so we don’t really hear the crowds applause and cheering until about half way through the set, I’m surprised that Rock City isn’t as loud or fanatical as the Ritz audience. This isn’t anything to do with Hell’s performance because when Saxon came on it was the same for them.

Around 8.15 the AC/DC intro tape kicks in and onto the stage come Saxon there’s a slight change in personnel, Standing in for the recuperating Nigel Glockler on drums is Sven Dirkschneider  (son of Udo) the rest of the gang however remain unchanged, Biff Byford (lead vocals) Paul Quinn (lead guitar) Doug Scarratt (lead guitar) [pictured left] and Nibbs Carter (bass) they open with the same three songs they did in Manchester namely Motorcycle Man, Sacrifice and Power and the Glory after that however there was many different numbers played in a diverse order. Nottingham got Never Surrender and 20,000 ft were as Manchester got Lionheart, Frozen Rainbow, Demon Sweeny Todd and This Town Rocks.

The encore at Rock City was the holy trinity Wheels, Strong Arm and Denim and Leather the crowd by this time were going mad but it took some cajoling from bassist Nibbs Carter earlier in the show to get them going. With the finale in London a few days after Rock City at last the mammoth Warriors of the Road tour is finally over it’s been a tough road one which saw Saxon go to hell and back again having a much loved colleague suffer a brain aneurysm was definitely not in the script.

I’m sure you will all join me in wishing Nigel Glockler a full and speedy recovery. Saxon have a new album to record this year and they will play several festivals over the coming months they sure as hell will never surrender… GD Manofmetal.

                      Above: British Heavy Metal Legend Biff Byford.

Below: Videos of Saxon @ The Ritz Manchester by GD...