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

                                 

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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/






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