Makes 42 in total. And many times I broke the pain barrier all in the name of metal!
My penultimate live experience of the year with Mr Tremonti's solo band was a great night indeed. I nearly didn't go to this gig as I only found out about it at the 11th hour. Three supports were listed and I'll go through them quickly.
Wearing Scars were up first and they were really rather good. I heard of them a while back. They feature the guitar talents of Andy James ex of Sacred Mother Tongue. These guys were great. They really have some cool melodic tunes and in Mr James a guitarist who shreds like a mother. The singer has a great voice but walks around the stage rather awkwardly and doesn't have a metal look but he has the pipes and the band has the tunes.
Next were The Raven Age. A band I've heard quite a bit about and heard a little bit in passing. They are of course the band of George Harris son of Steve. He plays guitar in the band and not the bass as you might possibly suspect. Anyway the band doesn't resort to growls thankfully and doesn't have a whole heap to do with the emocore scene either. They play a melodic sort of modern metal with a small foot in the past and a bigger foot in the present aping bands like Trivium etc. They have some cool riffs for sure but their songs are a bit boring. They have cool sections but it never materialises into memorable metal. The odd Maiden section rears its head her and there which is cool to see and hear as the father hands the reigns down to the son. The singer is OK but he's a bit annoying as well. The sound mix was a bit muddy for TRA as well. I think the band would sound better in a small club. They just don't have the songs to carry a big hall like the Forum.
Main support were Chicagoans Man The Mighty. I've never heard of them bu Tremonti hand picked them so he must like them. They sort of sound like a more bluesy or heavy grooving Volbeat but without the cool vocals and melodies. They were OK but I failed to get into them to be honest. I was just waiting for Tremonti to blow me away.
Tremonti came on at 9.30 and played up till round about 11 which was the curfew time. They started like a house on fire with a blisteringly heavy version of the title track from Cauterize. That was a bloody amazing start. Mark's voice is fucking loud live I tell you. He really booms out the vocals just how I like it. The guitar mix was actually a little poor or they just played too fast I don't know which. It was kinda hard to tell one fast song from another. It was only when they played the slower numbers that the songs became more recognisable from the beginning.
Having said all that the band was on serious fire I tell ya. Tremonti's band are all very tight players but of course the star of the show is Mark himself and boy does he go off on his guitar! The guy shreds when needed and then plays the hammering riffage and head bangs like mad at the same time and don't forget he has to sing and remember all the words. Don't know how he does it really! Every song they played was great. The two albums don't really have any duff tunes so people were going nuts for every track with moshpits starting up on the fast tunes. Flying Monkeys is the only song I don't really like from the new CD but it sounded monstrously heavy live. The other highlights were the amazing Another Heart, The Things I've Seen from the first album, Providence and the amazing and awesome Sympathy from the new album my absolute fave song sung brilliantly by Mark. I think I might possibly like Tremonti more than Alter Bridge if that's possible. Alter Bridge is more heart rending and emotional maybe but Tremonti mixes power as well as emotion and melody into a wonderful package. A great gig indeed at a packed out venue tells you all you need to know about Mr Tremonti's capabilities as a singer front man and most of all song writer.
Cauterize
You Waste Your Time
So You're Afraid
All I Was
Radical Change
The Things I've Seen
Arm Yourself
Dark Trip
Brains
Flying Monkeys
Providence
Decay
Another Heart
Sympathy
Wish You Well
My 42nd and final gig of the year! Man it's been a long haul..phew!! To be honest I'm actually glad it's all over for a few weeks anyway. My first gig of 2016 is on January 15th so a few weeks recuperation. Anyhow this was a pre xmas party gig basically with a lot of the old crowd letting their hair down and singing along to their old fave rock stars from the 80s.
First up were the new incarnation of Thin Lizzy in all but name, Black Star Riders. These guys were actually really very good and enjoyable. They played a short and sweet 8 song set of Lizzy classics and their best original tunes. Ricky Warwick is a very enthusiastic front man indeed but he can belt it out as well with his full bodied earthy voice. The Lizzy tunes were fun to hear and so were their own tracks. A perfect support act for the two big hitters to follow.
All Hell Breaks Loose
Are You Ready
(Thin Lizzy cover)
The Killer Instinct
Jailbreak
(Thin Lizzy cover)
Bound for Glory
Kingdom of the Lost
Finest Hour
Whiskey in the Jar
Whitesnake were the main support as they were the last time these two giants of 80s arena rock shared this very stage a couple of years ago now. Now last time all the talk was that Mr Coverdale had lost his vocal abilities and it was the same this time too. Anyway I waited to judge for myself and I can say in no uncertain terms that the rumours are indeed true. Cov is screaming and almost growling through the songs now. I know he'd probably say that's how they're supposed to be sung but it just ends up sounding so rough on the ear that all finesse is lost. He's still a pretty funny guy with the banter though. He always says something stupid like "Here's a song for ya London!" or his usual "Make some fuckin' noise! I can't hear ya!" He actually has that motto emblazoned across one of his shirts.
Anyway more on the songs as Whitesnake are promoting the Purple album, they played quite a few cuts from that. I didn't like the dirge-like Mistreated at all which went on and on and on like it would never end. Thankfully it did finally! I wasn't too enamoured with the other Purple songs either but they were ok. The 'snake classics were aired towards the end and sounded fine but again Cov was rough sounding in Is This Love when he should be a little smoother. The crowd seemed to enjoy it though but I'm wondering how many were thinking Cov should be just about packing it up by now. He shows no sign of stopping though although a proper new Whitesnake album is probably not on the agenda but whop knows. The final airing of the band's heaviest cut Still of the Night was pretty awesome though I must admit and even Cov's screaming felt more in place on that heavy song. A note about the band. They are all fucking ace and make the band sound amazing. Reb Beach was great as was the new guy Joel Hoekstra. Drummer Tommy Aldridge looks so funny behind his kit with his grey hair whizzing and flying round every where during his drum solo. He even did a pretty neat hand played section on his solo with no sticks and got hoots and hollers galore!
Michele Luppi was brought into the band by Mr Coverdale to plays keys and backing vox of course. The guy is a great singer in his own right but I couldn't really hear him over Cov's screaming and growling so if he was brought in to cover when Cov's voice cracks then I couldn't hear him. Oh he plays a decent keyboard does Mr Luppi.
Burn
(Deep Purple cover)
Bad Boys
Love Ain't No Stranger
The Gypsy
(Deep Purple cover)
Give Me All Your Love
Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City
(Bobby “Blue” Bland cover)
Mistreated
(Deep Purple cover)
You Fool No One
(Deep Purple cover)
Drum Solo
Soldier of Fortune
(Deep Purple cover)
Is This Love
Fool for Your Loving
Here I Go Again
Still of the Night
So Whitesnake left and at 9.25pm or so the stage was finally ready for Sheffield's finest steel to deliver the classics to the legions of oldies out for a pre xmas Friday night rockathon!
They started with newie Let's Go which was actually very cool indeed. The song is basically Pour Some Sugar On Me in all but name with a very similar riff. The melodies and woooahhs are super cheesy but the crowd seemed well into it as it's such a typical Leppard style song. The mega hit Animal followed and sounded great with the whole of the arena singing the chorus of course. The sound was crystal clear as well which is quite lucky as the Arena can be echoey and cavernous making the sound swirl around. No such problems for the Leppard though.
Joe sounded good but I think I recall him sounding a bit better last time. Maybe age is catching up a little with him as well but at least he's nowhere near like Mr Coverdale in screaming and growling. The band each gets their solo spot in between the songs and each is afforded grea respect from the crowd. In fact the band is pretty much treated like living legends. Another newie is aired with the very catchy Dangerous with nice harmony vocals during the chorus by the other guys. After which we are back to the greatest hits set of songs that the band must of course play if they wanna bet let out back to their hotels tonight. A lot of people are singing a long and enjoying themselves to these famous rock tunes. Maybe DL are now a pure nostalgia band but their recent album is pretty good if not quite amazing. People just don't really care to hear it but like I said the two new cuts are classic Leppard so I don't see the problem.
The boys reluctantly have to leave as the final song of the night the classic Photograph is played with mass sing along on the chorus and a rousing crescendo ending. Joe makes an impassioned speech at the end about the fans not forgetting DL and in return the band not forgetting the fans and coming back again and again. Judging by the sold out 11,000 crowd the band has enough fans for many years yet even if they don't buy the albums like they used to. The diehards still love to hear the classics live and Leppard gives'em what they want and then some.
Let's Go
Animal
Undefeated
Dangerous
Love Bites
Armageddon It
Rock On
(David Essex cover)
Two Steps Behind
(acoustic/Joe only)
Rocket
When Love and Hate Collide
Switch 625
Hysteria
Let's Get Rocked
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Encore:
Rock of Ages
Photograph
My penultimate live experience of the year with Mr Tremonti's solo band was a great night indeed. I nearly didn't go to this gig as I only found out about it at the 11th hour. Three supports were listed and I'll go through them quickly.
Wearing Scars were up first and they were really rather good. I heard of them a while back. They feature the guitar talents of Andy James ex of Sacred Mother Tongue. These guys were great. They really have some cool melodic tunes and in Mr James a guitarist who shreds like a mother. The singer has a great voice but walks around the stage rather awkwardly and doesn't have a metal look but he has the pipes and the band has the tunes.
Next were The Raven Age. A band I've heard quite a bit about and heard a little bit in passing. They are of course the band of George Harris son of Steve. He plays guitar in the band and not the bass as you might possibly suspect. Anyway the band doesn't resort to growls thankfully and doesn't have a whole heap to do with the emocore scene either. They play a melodic sort of modern metal with a small foot in the past and a bigger foot in the present aping bands like Trivium etc. They have some cool riffs for sure but their songs are a bit boring. They have cool sections but it never materialises into memorable metal. The odd Maiden section rears its head her and there which is cool to see and hear as the father hands the reigns down to the son. The singer is OK but he's a bit annoying as well. The sound mix was a bit muddy for TRA as well. I think the band would sound better in a small club. They just don't have the songs to carry a big hall like the Forum.
Main support were Chicagoans Man The Mighty. I've never heard of them bu Tremonti hand picked them so he must like them. They sort of sound like a more bluesy or heavy grooving Volbeat but without the cool vocals and melodies. They were OK but I failed to get into them to be honest. I was just waiting for Tremonti to blow me away.
Tremonti came on at 9.30 and played up till round about 11 which was the curfew time. They started like a house on fire with a blisteringly heavy version of the title track from Cauterize. That was a bloody amazing start. Mark's voice is fucking loud live I tell you. He really booms out the vocals just how I like it. The guitar mix was actually a little poor or they just played too fast I don't know which. It was kinda hard to tell one fast song from another. It was only when they played the slower numbers that the songs became more recognisable from the beginning.
Having said all that the band was on serious fire I tell ya. Tremonti's band are all very tight players but of course the star of the show is Mark himself and boy does he go off on his guitar! The guy shreds when needed and then plays the hammering riffage and head bangs like mad at the same time and don't forget he has to sing and remember all the words. Don't know how he does it really! Every song they played was great. The two albums don't really have any duff tunes so people were going nuts for every track with moshpits starting up on the fast tunes. Flying Monkeys is the only song I don't really like from the new CD but it sounded monstrously heavy live. The other highlights were the amazing Another Heart, The Things I've Seen from the first album, Providence and the amazing and awesome Sympathy from the new album my absolute fave song sung brilliantly by Mark. I think I might possibly like Tremonti more than Alter Bridge if that's possible. Alter Bridge is more heart rending and emotional maybe but Tremonti mixes power as well as emotion and melody into a wonderful package. A great gig indeed at a packed out venue tells you all you need to know about Mr Tremonti's capabilities as a singer front man and most of all song writer.
Cauterize
You Waste Your Time
So You're Afraid
All I Was
Radical Change
The Things I've Seen
Arm Yourself
Dark Trip
Brains
Flying Monkeys
Providence
Decay
Another Heart
Sympathy
Wish You Well
My 42nd and final gig of the year! Man it's been a long haul..phew!! To be honest I'm actually glad it's all over for a few weeks anyway. My first gig of 2016 is on January 15th so a few weeks recuperation. Anyhow this was a pre xmas party gig basically with a lot of the old crowd letting their hair down and singing along to their old fave rock stars from the 80s.
First up were the new incarnation of Thin Lizzy in all but name, Black Star Riders. These guys were actually really very good and enjoyable. They played a short and sweet 8 song set of Lizzy classics and their best original tunes. Ricky Warwick is a very enthusiastic front man indeed but he can belt it out as well with his full bodied earthy voice. The Lizzy tunes were fun to hear and so were their own tracks. A perfect support act for the two big hitters to follow.
All Hell Breaks Loose
Are You Ready
(Thin Lizzy cover)
The Killer Instinct
Jailbreak
(Thin Lizzy cover)
Bound for Glory
Kingdom of the Lost
Finest Hour
Whiskey in the Jar
Whitesnake were the main support as they were the last time these two giants of 80s arena rock shared this very stage a couple of years ago now. Now last time all the talk was that Mr Coverdale had lost his vocal abilities and it was the same this time too. Anyway I waited to judge for myself and I can say in no uncertain terms that the rumours are indeed true. Cov is screaming and almost growling through the songs now. I know he'd probably say that's how they're supposed to be sung but it just ends up sounding so rough on the ear that all finesse is lost. He's still a pretty funny guy with the banter though. He always says something stupid like "Here's a song for ya London!" or his usual "Make some fuckin' noise! I can't hear ya!" He actually has that motto emblazoned across one of his shirts.
Anyway more on the songs as Whitesnake are promoting the Purple album, they played quite a few cuts from that. I didn't like the dirge-like Mistreated at all which went on and on and on like it would never end. Thankfully it did finally! I wasn't too enamoured with the other Purple songs either but they were ok. The 'snake classics were aired towards the end and sounded fine but again Cov was rough sounding in Is This Love when he should be a little smoother. The crowd seemed to enjoy it though but I'm wondering how many were thinking Cov should be just about packing it up by now. He shows no sign of stopping though although a proper new Whitesnake album is probably not on the agenda but whop knows. The final airing of the band's heaviest cut Still of the Night was pretty awesome though I must admit and even Cov's screaming felt more in place on that heavy song. A note about the band. They are all fucking ace and make the band sound amazing. Reb Beach was great as was the new guy Joel Hoekstra. Drummer Tommy Aldridge looks so funny behind his kit with his grey hair whizzing and flying round every where during his drum solo. He even did a pretty neat hand played section on his solo with no sticks and got hoots and hollers galore!
Michele Luppi was brought into the band by Mr Coverdale to plays keys and backing vox of course. The guy is a great singer in his own right but I couldn't really hear him over Cov's screaming and growling so if he was brought in to cover when Cov's voice cracks then I couldn't hear him. Oh he plays a decent keyboard does Mr Luppi.
Burn
(Deep Purple cover)
Bad Boys
Love Ain't No Stranger
The Gypsy
(Deep Purple cover)
Give Me All Your Love
Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City
(Bobby “Blue” Bland cover)
Mistreated
(Deep Purple cover)
You Fool No One
(Deep Purple cover)
Drum Solo
Soldier of Fortune
(Deep Purple cover)
Is This Love
Fool for Your Loving
Here I Go Again
Still of the Night
So Whitesnake left and at 9.25pm or so the stage was finally ready for Sheffield's finest steel to deliver the classics to the legions of oldies out for a pre xmas Friday night rockathon!
They started with newie Let's Go which was actually very cool indeed. The song is basically Pour Some Sugar On Me in all but name with a very similar riff. The melodies and woooahhs are super cheesy but the crowd seemed well into it as it's such a typical Leppard style song. The mega hit Animal followed and sounded great with the whole of the arena singing the chorus of course. The sound was crystal clear as well which is quite lucky as the Arena can be echoey and cavernous making the sound swirl around. No such problems for the Leppard though.
Joe sounded good but I think I recall him sounding a bit better last time. Maybe age is catching up a little with him as well but at least he's nowhere near like Mr Coverdale in screaming and growling. The band each gets their solo spot in between the songs and each is afforded grea respect from the crowd. In fact the band is pretty much treated like living legends. Another newie is aired with the very catchy Dangerous with nice harmony vocals during the chorus by the other guys. After which we are back to the greatest hits set of songs that the band must of course play if they wanna bet let out back to their hotels tonight. A lot of people are singing a long and enjoying themselves to these famous rock tunes. Maybe DL are now a pure nostalgia band but their recent album is pretty good if not quite amazing. People just don't really care to hear it but like I said the two new cuts are classic Leppard so I don't see the problem.
The boys reluctantly have to leave as the final song of the night the classic Photograph is played with mass sing along on the chorus and a rousing crescendo ending. Joe makes an impassioned speech at the end about the fans not forgetting DL and in return the band not forgetting the fans and coming back again and again. Judging by the sold out 11,000 crowd the band has enough fans for many years yet even if they don't buy the albums like they used to. The diehards still love to hear the classics live and Leppard gives'em what they want and then some.
Let's Go
Animal
Undefeated
Dangerous
Love Bites
Armageddon It
Rock On
(David Essex cover)
Two Steps Behind
(acoustic/Joe only)
Rocket
When Love and Hate Collide
Switch 625
Hysteria
Let's Get Rocked
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Encore:
Rock of Ages
Photograph
