Faster Pussycat - Wednesday 3rd July 2013 - Camden Underworld, London

Having giving these guys a glowing review the last time they played London, I wondered if they could be any better. As you know they are my favourite band of all time so I think you'll the answer already. Of course they were and better. Playing to a pretty busy Underworld crowd was a good sign that people still want to see them (despite it being less than 2 years since they played here). Maybe it was that there were 4 support acts; I even noticed that the backstage area was busier than usual! Anyway enough of these frivolities.  They now have a stable line up with Ace Von Johnson remaining on guitar. But of course these days Taime Downe is the remaining (and original member) of Faster Pussycat. Not to give the other guys a disservice but it's Taime who the crowd have come to see. We get a similar set to the last tour, with an added inclusion of "Shooting You Down" and a brand new song (title unknown I'm afraid). This was an absolute corker. If they are going to make a new album sounding like this song, then I can't wait. These days there is no sign of the industrial tinge to their music, they just play all the favourites how they were recorded. As mentioned  before, virtually the same songs as the previous tour. Who cares when you want to hear them being played in a live setting! Once again, Taime sits down at the front of the stage for "House of Pain", we have Danny Nordahl taking lead vocals on "Pretty Fucked Up" (accompanied by support band The Art) and finishing off with "Babylon". Sadly no encore, although the crowd wanted one. Once again best concert of 2013 so far. Next time can you play "When the Ship Roles In".

Rating: 10/10

Setlist: Where there's a Whip, Cathouse, Slip of the Tongue, Number 1 with a Bullet, Sex, Drugs & Rock N Roll, House of Pain, (new song), Don't Change that Song, Shooting You Down, Porn Star, Bathroom Wall, Pretty Fucked Up, Shut Up and Fuck, Babylon.

Faster Pussycat 2013 - Camden Underworld

Taime Downe - July 2013

Enuff Z Nuff - Monday 29 April 2013, Camden Underworld, London

First up I must mention Rocky Shades Wildside Riot whose band played 3rd on this bill. The ex-Wrathchild man is back fronting his new band, Wildside Riot.Very good they were too. A very amiable front man, who played the best tunes from his debut album, as well as finishing with an old Wrathchild classic, 'Stakk Attak'. Definitely worth checking him out again.

Rating: 8/10

Rocky Shades

Now Enuff Z'Nuff have been doing the rounds for a number of years with Donnie View back in the band. I have already given them a glowing review a few years ago at The Borderline. However on tonight's performance I'm not sure how this will last. His stage antics was a fine line between watching a car crash performance or first nights exuberance. Lets call it the latter for arguments sake!  Maybe he had one to many sherberts before the show, but constantly asking members of the crowd for a smoke nearly every other song smacked signs of desperation. Even when he managed to smoke he was told to put it out by a surely bouncer! Despite his antics Chip Z'Nuff, Tory Stoffregen and Randi Scott kept a professional performance. No Enuff Z'Nuff gig is complete without 'Fly High Michelle', 'New Thing' 'We're All Alright' and 'Baby Loves You'.We are also treated to 2 encores, 'Come Together' and 'Dissonance'. While it  was a miracle that Donnie made it to the end of the gig without tangling himself in Chip's bass cable, he promised us that he would be back just him and his guitar for a gig in the very near future. Mmmm, was he trying to tell us something!

Rating: 7/10

Set list: 'High', 'Heaven or Hell', 'Wheels', 'We're All Alright', 'There Goes My Heart', 'Baby Loves You', 'Altered States', 'Lisa', 'The Love Train', 'Fly High Michelle', 'New Thing' 'Come Together' and 'Dissonance'.

POSTSCRIPT:  Donnie Vie has now left the band!

Donnie Vie

Chip Z'Nuff

Love/Hate - Monday 25 March 2013 - Camden Underworld, London

The last time Jizzy Pearl played the Underworld was as lead singer of Tracii Guns LA Guns (or should that be LA Hate/Love Guns!). 2 years later he's back as the only original member of Love/Hate. This time his band consists of Keri Kelli (Ex-Alice Cooper - guitar), Robbie Crane (Ex-Ratt - bass) and Matt Star - drums. This is the first night of their European Tour having flown in that day. Any signs of jet lag soon dissipate with the opening one two of 'Boozer' and 'Yucca Man'. All the classics are played from 'Black Out in the Red Room', 'Wasted in America' and 'Let's Rumble'. Even a cover version of 'Ace Of Spades' is sandwich between 'Why do you think..' and 'Blackout..' for the encore. It always surprised me that although they were popular in the UK they weren't bigger elsewhere. I'm glad Jizzy is still performing (be it with Love/Hate, LA Guns or Ratt), as he clearly enjoys playing small clubs and being close to his fans. London will always welcome you back. Love/Hate once claimed themselves as the "Stoopidest band in the world". From tonight's performance this is furthest from the truth.

Set list: Boozer, Yucca Man, Tumbleweed, Spit, Fuel to Run, Straightjacket, One more Round, Spinning Wheel, Tranquilizer, She's an Angel, Mary Jane, Evil Twin, Hell CA pop 4, Wasted in America, Why do you think they call it dope? Ace of Spades (Motorhead cover), Black out in the red room.

Rating: 9/10

Lost Angels - Thursday 24 January 2013, Camden Underworld, London

Lost Angels are a super group covers band from USA put together by Troy Patrick Farrell (Ex-White Lion/Pretty Boy Floyd), consisting of; Eric Brittingham (Cinderella), Eric Dover (Ex-Slash's Snakepit/Jellyfish) and Ryan Roxie (Ex-Slash's Snakepit).With a pretty impressive CV between the four of them, I was expecting a good turnout. Sadly the majority of London's glam metal crowd stayed away. Not sure if it was the weather or lack of advertising. However their loss as when would you get the chance to see a member of Cinderella playing in a tiny club! For those who were there, we were treated to 20 cover versions ranging from Cinderella, Alice Cooper and Dad's Porno Mag! Apart from the songs there was good stage banter between Eric & Ryan who both seemed to be genuinely pleased to be here (this was their first night of their European Tour). Ryan seemed particularly on good form communicating with the crowd. Eric seemed a bit distanced from the other two (maybe his was missing Tom) but who cares when we are treated to 3 Cinderella tunes. They covered a good selection of tunes, the night turning into a glam metal jukebox. A thoroughly enjoyable evening for those who attended. Now when will we see the return of Cinderella for another UK tour?

Set list: Night Songs (Cinderella), 20th Centuary Boy (T.Rex), Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie), Helter Skelter (The Beatles), No More Mr Nice Guy (Alice Cooper), Beggars & Hangers-On (Slash's Snakepit), Save Me (Cinderella), No Matter What (Badfinger), Smell My Finger (Dad's Porno Mag), Under Pressure (Queen), Man of the Year (Alice Cooper), This is Why (Jellyfish), Boy or a Girl (Imperial Drag), I'm 18 (Alice Cooper), Fox on the Run (Sweet), Gypsy Road (Cinderella), He's a Whore (Cheap Trick), Surrender (Cheap Trick), Sin City (AC/DC) and Radar Love (Golden Earring).

Rating: 8/10

Ryan Roxie & Eric Dover

W.A.S.P - Friday 21 September 2012, HMV Forum, London

Now W.A.S.P are one of my favourite bands and when they announced their 30 year anniversary tour I quickly bought my ticket. When I checked their website they promised "elements from early WASP shows". Immediately I thought of the rack with a semi naked woman, exploding codpiece, raw meat and flames. I knew that Blackie wouldn't play "Animal" anymore as he had become a Christian, but the thought of all this appealed to me as I was too young to see them first time around. Did we get this? Sadly not.Was it a good concert? In places; so let me explain. All the signs were good; the Forum was packed (sold out I believe), massive banners,/video screens/high risers. However I think that Blackie had taken a leaf out of Axl Rose book as we had to wait over 45 minutes for them to start. However all was forgotten as soon as the band came on.  The gig was split into 3 parts with the first playing songs from the first 4 albums. Favourites such as  "L.O.V.E . Machine", "Wild Child", "I Wanna Be Somebody" and a medley of "Hellion/I Don't Need No Doctor and Scream Until You Like it". We had video screens as well showing the videos of songs whilst they were being played (although at times they were out of sync!) After a short break, the second part of the gig consisted of a shortened version of the Crimson Idol album. Not one of my favourite albums, and it unfortunately ruined the momentum of first part of the gig. With minimal lighting and the video screens repeating the same video, this was truly a low point for me. The final part of the set they tried to redeem themselves as we had Blackie's infamous moveable microphone stand and songs such as "Widowmaker", "Chainsaw Charlie" and finally finishing with "Blind in Texas". I guess Blackie might be embarrassed by his antics 30 years ago, but tonight we got a 21st century celebration of WASP's career. I guess I'll have to go back to watching Live at the Lyceum to relive those early days. Now where's that video....

Night Ranger - 04 June 2012, Islington Academy London

Having missed them this time last year and hearing good reviews, I decided to check them out. Stopping over in London before heading off to the Sweden Rock Festival, this was an ideal opportunity to acquaint themselves with their English fans again. Playing to a packed Academy, they started off with 'Lay It on Me' from their new album 'Somewhere in California'. What a great song song to kick things off. They also played 'Growing up in California' from the aforementioned album later on in their set. Two great songs, I suggest you check out that album. Four songs in they played first of 2 Damn Yankees song, 'Coming of Age' and later 'High Enough'. Of course this was inevitable as Jack Blades was the bass player in Damn Yankees. We also had a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's 'Crazy Train' as Brad Gillis was in Ozzy's band after the death of Randy Rhoads. They also played 'The Secret of My Success' from the same name film, a song that I never realised they played on! I was half expecting to see Michael J Fox make an appearance! After nearly 2 hours we had the obligatory encore of their 2 famous songs from 'Midnight Madness'. Firsty 'Sister Christian' (with Kelly Keagy on lead vocals) and finally 'You Can Still Rock in America' (with the whole  Academy singing along). What a great band with great musicians (I forgot to mention Joel Hoekstra on guitar and Eric Levy on keys). They said that they'd be back again next year. I for one will, make sure you do.

Vain - Sunday 18 March 2012 - Camden Underworld, London

Just under a year ago Vain were in London playing at the Purple Turtle which I reviewed. 11 months later they were back in the capital promoting their new album "Enough Rope". Now I heard good things about this album, so with this in mind and that "No Respect" is one of my favourite albums of all time, I decided to head to the Underworld. There was a respectable turnout for a Sunday night and once again Vain did not disappoint. Backed by a different set of musicians this time, the majority of the set was split between "No Respect" and the new songs off "Enough Rope". Opening with "Secrets" Davy Vain mixed the new songs with old favourites like "Icy", "1000 degrees", and "No Respect". As with his other gigs I've witnessed Davy likes to tell a good tale and proceeded to regale us a story about a groupie about 5 minutes before launching into frenetic "Who's Watching Who". He later mentioned how he loves playing the UK and especially London but this would be his last UK for some time (although he didn't say why). If this is the case that is a shame because London loves Vain as well. However before he went we were treated to a mandatory encore of  "No Respect". Don't stay away to long Davy.