GD Take's On 2015: 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.