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