Finally got to see the amazing Hanoi Rocks last night at the Carling Academy in Glasgow and OMG was it worth the wait - bloody right it was. No words can properly convey how mindblowing this band are live - utterly and totally awesome. Think of the superb Priest & Scorps gig, well Hanoi Rocks & Twisted Sister were about one thousand times better than that one.
Michael Monroe is every inch the perfect frontman, looking and sounding fantastic with an endless supply of energy that would put all these young bands to shame. He took complete control of the stage and was loving every minute of it, as we all were as well. Jumping about wide-eyed and crazy looking the whole time, never let up for one minute, strutting, posing and parading his stuff like no-one else and putting on a totally energetic performance he had the whole crowed totally captivated by his antics on stage - dancing, leaping, jumping, doing the splits, high kicks, jumping down from the stage and running up and down the full length of the barrier quite a few times, shaking hands with everyone, he was totally sensational. And at one point jumped up on the PA stack on either side of the stage in one single jump and was singing on top of them for a while - still don't quite know how he managed that. Michael Monroe is the frontman Dave Lee Roth only dreamt of being, he was totally mesmerising and I don't think one person in the audience could take their eyes off him. Tremendous singer and also playing the harmonica and sax, he was totally phenomenal. Hanoi Rocks were absolutely electric on stage, the whole band was on fire and Andy McCoy was superb, the 2 of them together were just fabulous to watch. And Michael Monroe must have went through about 6 different outfits last night, coming on with a different outfit more sparkly and glittery than the previous one - bloody magnificent!!!!!!
Kicked it all off with Boulevard of Broken Dreams which was stunning and then tore through a terrific setlist which included Back in Your Face, Better High, Bad News, A Day Late A Dollar Short, Obscured, Delirious, Tragedy, Up around the Bend, High School and the stunningly brilliant Don't You Ever Leave Me which had me almost in tears it was that earthshatteringly awesome (and funnily enough was the first song I heard when I walked into the Solid Rock before the gig). And when they'd finished, everyone should just stood stunned and said "f*cking hell Twisted Sister are gonny have to go some to top that performance". The best band I've ever seen in my life, they were just totally hypnotic.
And then it was time for Twisted Sister - there was about ten ton of dry ice floating all over the stage and the stage was lit up bright pink and then Dee Snider exploded through the smoke and greeted us with "Hello Glasgow you mad motherfuckers, we are Twisted fucking Sister" and then chucked 2 big bottles of water over the crowd at the front - I saw it coming so quickly turned my back and got a bit soaked but who cares it was good fun. We were right doon the front and the whole place just erupted when Sister came on, they were so ultra loud and intense, definitely the loudest band I've ever heard. Dee Snider, again absolutely fantastic to watch, brilliant performer, cursing and swearing like a trooper throughout the entire set - as I say everyone going absolutely pure mental for Twisted Sister but I have to say although Dee was spectacular and put on a mega performance, the rest of the band, although they were great, they didn't seem to be getting into it much, just standing about going through the motions and that Jay Jay French just looked kinda bored most of the time - wearing a shedload of lipgloss and tons of blusher, which is fine but he had on just jeans and a denim cut off, it looked a bit dumb, if your gonny slap on the warpaint, at least put on some glam clothes as well.
But they were fantastic and I'm not too familiar with all their songs but every song was tremendous, they played Stay Hungry, We're Not Gonna Take It, I Wanna Rock, Burn in Hell, Captain Howdy, You Can't Stop Rock n Roll, Under the Blade, The Price and It's only Rock & Roll (But I Like It) which was incredible and they finished up with I Am I'm Me. They did more songs than that but that's about all I can remember.
Absolutely and without a doubt the bestest concert EVER and here's a few pics I took of Hanoi Rocks, click to make pic bigger if you wish!
Michael Monroe is every inch the perfect frontman, looking and sounding fantastic with an endless supply of energy that would put all these young bands to shame. He took complete control of the stage and was loving every minute of it, as we all were as well. Jumping about wide-eyed and crazy looking the whole time, never let up for one minute, strutting, posing and parading his stuff like no-one else and putting on a totally energetic performance he had the whole crowed totally captivated by his antics on stage - dancing, leaping, jumping, doing the splits, high kicks, jumping down from the stage and running up and down the full length of the barrier quite a few times, shaking hands with everyone, he was totally sensational. And at one point jumped up on the PA stack on either side of the stage in one single jump and was singing on top of them for a while - still don't quite know how he managed that. Michael Monroe is the frontman Dave Lee Roth only dreamt of being, he was totally mesmerising and I don't think one person in the audience could take their eyes off him. Tremendous singer and also playing the harmonica and sax, he was totally phenomenal. Hanoi Rocks were absolutely electric on stage, the whole band was on fire and Andy McCoy was superb, the 2 of them together were just fabulous to watch. And Michael Monroe must have went through about 6 different outfits last night, coming on with a different outfit more sparkly and glittery than the previous one - bloody magnificent!!!!!!
Kicked it all off with Boulevard of Broken Dreams which was stunning and then tore through a terrific setlist which included Back in Your Face, Better High, Bad News, A Day Late A Dollar Short, Obscured, Delirious, Tragedy, Up around the Bend, High School and the stunningly brilliant Don't You Ever Leave Me which had me almost in tears it was that earthshatteringly awesome (and funnily enough was the first song I heard when I walked into the Solid Rock before the gig). And when they'd finished, everyone should just stood stunned and said "f*cking hell Twisted Sister are gonny have to go some to top that performance". The best band I've ever seen in my life, they were just totally hypnotic.
And then it was time for Twisted Sister - there was about ten ton of dry ice floating all over the stage and the stage was lit up bright pink and then Dee Snider exploded through the smoke and greeted us with "Hello Glasgow you mad motherfuckers, we are Twisted fucking Sister" and then chucked 2 big bottles of water over the crowd at the front - I saw it coming so quickly turned my back and got a bit soaked but who cares it was good fun. We were right doon the front and the whole place just erupted when Sister came on, they were so ultra loud and intense, definitely the loudest band I've ever heard. Dee Snider, again absolutely fantastic to watch, brilliant performer, cursing and swearing like a trooper throughout the entire set - as I say everyone going absolutely pure mental for Twisted Sister but I have to say although Dee was spectacular and put on a mega performance, the rest of the band, although they were great, they didn't seem to be getting into it much, just standing about going through the motions and that Jay Jay French just looked kinda bored most of the time - wearing a shedload of lipgloss and tons of blusher, which is fine but he had on just jeans and a denim cut off, it looked a bit dumb, if your gonny slap on the warpaint, at least put on some glam clothes as well.
But they were fantastic and I'm not too familiar with all their songs but every song was tremendous, they played Stay Hungry, We're Not Gonna Take It, I Wanna Rock, Burn in Hell, Captain Howdy, You Can't Stop Rock n Roll, Under the Blade, The Price and It's only Rock & Roll (But I Like It) which was incredible and they finished up with I Am I'm Me. They did more songs than that but that's about all I can remember.
Absolutely and without a doubt the bestest concert EVER and here's a few pics I took of Hanoi Rocks, click to make pic bigger if you wish!
