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.

Def Leppard & Motley Crue & Steel Panther - 8th December 2011, Nottingham Arena

At long last us Brits have got us a mini tour of the UK of 2 of the greatest hard rock bands of the 80's. About time too. Now this was certainly going to be a hot ticket and as such within 48hrs all the standing tickets were sold out at Wembley Arena, hence my review from Nottingham. Having seen the Crue (albeit from a distance) in Toronto in June, I was determined to get near the front to experience a piece of their action. However before the main event there was 40 mins of Steel Panther. Now I've seen these guys twice before and I think they are a great band. Not only have they got great songs, but their onstage banter (between Michael Starr & Satchel) is extremely funny. Remember people rock concerts are meant to be fun! Having not got their latest album 'Balls Out', I was not familiar with their songs. However the pick of the new songs they played for me was 'Just Like Tiger Woods' and '17 Girls in a Row'. I will be certainly buying their album now. Of course they played favourites as 'Community Property' and ending with 'Death to all but Metal', with the imortal line, "where is Def Leppard, where is Motley Crue". Not everybody's cup of tea but certainly a good choice as support band. Check 'em out when they tour in March 2012.

Now how would Motley Crue compare to my Canadian review? Would they play a similar set? As in Toronto, the Crue hit the stage without a fanfare but with a mighty bang, ploughing straight into 'Wildside'. One again this was a greatest hit show. A shorter set than in Toronto (although still playing for 90mins) but with all the hits nonetheless. Vince Neil  does run about the stage a lot but lets the crowd sing a fair bit of the songs. Is it because he's forgotten the words, out of breath or his voice is not the same as it was 30years ago? You decide. Nikki Sixx still looks menacing as he commands the stage. Mick Mars stays in the shadows but his guitar playing is phenominal. He does speak later on only to apologise for his poor guitar sound. Tommy Lee is still like an excitable puppy, not surprising as he has brought his rollercoster drum kit over. Apart from the drum solo and guitar solo we also get explosions, video images, and a glittery grand piano used for the intro to 'Home Sweet Home". What about the songs? Well we get a good mix from all their albums including 2 songs from the underrated 'Saints of Los Angeles'. They eventually finish off with 'Kickstart My Heart'. Another memorable concert, much better than Toronto. The only drawback was that there were too long a gap between each song. I'm sure they could've squeezed an extra song in!

Now could Def Leppard follow that? I'm certainly a big Def Leppard fan but following the Crue their performance was certainly more safe & pedestrian. They had brought over their full American production and like the other bands they used full use of the stage included the added extension. They had the lights and video screens , but they were the only band to have their performance projected on the video screens. They started of with a new track 'Undefeated' from their lateat live album 'Mirrorball'. Next up was 'Rocket' which was 1 of 8 songs they played from 'Hysteria' album. 'Gods of War' was another song they played from that album. I haven't heard that in ages and forgotten how good it was. They slowed things down with a couple of accoustic numbers, 'Two Steps Behind' and 'Bringin on the Heartbreak' which they played at the front of the stage. Both Viv Campbell & Phill Collen's guitar playing was spot on. Later on when Joe Elliott anounced it was Phil's birthday, he lead the crowd to a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. The hits kept coming, 'Make Love like a Man', 'Animal' & finally ending with 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'. 1 encore followed with the show finishing with 'Lets Get Rocked'.
This package was certainly value for money and we should have more arena tours like this for 2012. Now I wish Poison make it over to the UK for a long overdue tour!

Motley Crue setlist:  'Wildside', 'Saints of Los Angeles', Live Wire', 'Shout at the Devil', 'Same Ol Situation', 'Primal Scream', 'Home Sweet Home', 'Looks That Kill', 'Dr Feelgood', 'Muthafu**ker of the Year', 'Girls Girls Girls', 'Smokin In the Boys Room', 'Kickstart My Heart'.

Def Leppard setlist: 'Undefeated', 'Rocket', 'Action', 'Make Love Like a Man', 'Let it Go', 'When Love & Hate Collide', 'Women', 'Gods of War', ' Two Steps Behind', 'Bringin on the Heartbreak', 'Switch 625', 'Hysteria', 'Armageddon It', 'Animal', 'Photograph', 'Pour Some Sugar on Me', 'Love Bites', 'Lets Get Rocked'.


  

  

Faster Pussycat - Saturday 29th October 2011, Camden Underworld

I recently read a magazine review of a Faster Pussycat concert in USA where the journalist suggested that "it was time for this cat to be put down". Now it might have been something to do with him not liking their 2009 album - "The Power and the Glory Hole" being drastically different to their self titled album of 1987. However unlike their peers at least they have updated their sound and so try not to live on past glories (unlike some bands I could mention). For the record Faster Pussycat are my favourite band of all time. They never really toured the UK in their heyday (although they toured here in 1987 with Gun's N Roses - which I missed). However they have certainly made up for it recently. To give them their dues, in the last 9 years they have toured the UK 6 times and on each occasion I have seen them (and not just in London). As a point to note Taime Downe's is the only original member of Faster Pussycat left. (Anyone remember Brent Muscat & Eric Stacey's version that toured the UK in 2007?) However saying that I've always left each gig slightly disappointed due to them either playing a short set or not playing enough of their old songs. So what was I going to expect tonight? Well the omens didn't look good from the start with a virtually empty Underworld. I guess all the glam fans were at Alexandra Palace to see Alice Cooper. However by 9.15pm there were approximately 100 fans to witness 70 minutes of the best Faster Pussycat gig I have seen. As the intro played ('Bye Bye Bianca'), Danny Nordahl (bass), Xristian Simon (guitar) and new boy Ace Von Johnson (guitar - replacing Michael Thomas) were centre stage horns aloft. They then went straight into 'Jack the Bastard' off Whipped album. Out came Taime, standing there in his rock star pose looking the epitome of cool with his (un lit) cigarette. He never did smoke that cigarette (I think he has given up smoking!)
Anyway you know already that this was an awesome performance so rather than trying to add more superlatives to describe how good this concert was, I'll just give you a run down of the songs they played (certainly a mixture of old & new):
Jack the Bastard, Cathouse, Slip of the Tongue, No1 with a Bullet, Sex Drugs & Rock N Roll, House of Pain, Nonstop to Nowhere, In Denial (a Newlydeads song), Don't Change That Song, Porn Star, Bathroom Wall, Pretty Fucked Up (a Supersuckers cover sung by Danny Nordahl), Shut Up & Fuck and Babylon. *Note* - they might have played Where there's a Whip....I can't remember.
I cannot finish the review without mentioning the ever reliable Chad Stewart on drums and the excellent musicianship of the others. On a final note this is the first time I've seen Taime really happy (smiling a lot and taking the piss out of our English accents!!) Normally he can be aloof but when he sat on the monitors at the front of the stage (during House of Pain) it appeared to me he was genuinely enjoying himself. He also thanked the crowd a couple of times for coming out, which was appreciated by me.
Best concert of 2011 so far.

 











Alice Cooper & New York Dolls - Thursday 27 October 2011 - Birmingham NIA

For those observant amongst you this review takes place in Birmingham and not London. This is because the London date is the same day as Faster Pussycat play in London and as they are my all time favourite band I cannot miss them. So with this dilemma I decided to make my way up to Birmingham to experience 'Alice Cooper's Halloween Night of Fear'. Having seen Alice twice before in the last 18 months (Sonisphere Festival 2010 & Download 2011) and been impressed by the show he put on, I decided to go and see him again. It is only recently I have rediscovered his great music again. Having bought the Alice Cooper Fan Pack and suitable impressed by "Welcome 2 My Nightmare", I was looking forward to another entertaining show.
Before that however we had 50 minutes of New York Dolls. Now those who read my blog where I saw them in Toronto, know that I enjoyed them and would like to see them again. Not realising at the time that 4 months later I would get that opportunity to see them in England. This time I was much closer to the stage and thoroughly enjoyed their 'Special Guests' slot. Highlights for me were 'Cause I Sez So', 'Dance Like a Monkey', 'Pills' and 'Personality Crisis'. Both David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain took turns to introduce the songs and seem to be enjoying their time on stage. As a side point, what was with Johansen's lyric book stand? All he did was randomly flick through the pages and not read them!
Before Alice came on the crowd got to choose the best fancy dress from a line up of individuals. Needless to say someone dressed up as the Devil won the cash prize. Who said Heavy Metal fans are fickle?
Finally Alice took to the stage. Apart from the entertaining stage show the other reason on going to the concert was to see him indoors rather than at a festival and to get up close to the stage. I got fairly near to the stage which was good however the stage show was an exact copy of the Download festival earlier in the summer! For me that was a bit disappointing as I was expecting something a bit different song wise or stage show. Of course we couldn't have an Alice show without the props such as the guillotine, Frankenstein's monster, confetti, dollars and batons. And of course we couldn't have an Alice show without the songs; 'I'm Eighteen', 'Billion Dollar Babies', 'No More Mr Nice Guy', 'Poison' 'School's Out' and 'Elected'. He played 1 song from the new album, 'I'll Bite Your Face Off' and my favourite Alice song 'Hey Stoopid'. Alice has got a great band behind him these days; Steve Hunter (who played on the original Welcome To My Nightmare), Tommy Henriksen and Orianthi on guitars, Chuck Garric on bass and Glen Sobel on drums. Incidentally the drum solo was brilliant - but I would say that being a drummer! After set closers 'School's Out' and 'Elected' the show was over. A good concert but it was all too similar to his Download performance 5 months prior. Here's hoping that he will change the order of his set list in time for Bloodstock 2012!
Setlist: Vincent Price intro, The Black Widow, Brutal Planet, I'm Eighteen, Under My Wheels, Billion Dollar Babies, No More Mr Nice Guy, Hey Stoopid, Is It My Body, Halo of Flies, I'll Bite Your Face Off, Muscle of Love, Only Women Bleed, Cold Ethyl, Feed My Frankenstein, Clones (We're All), Poison, Wicked Young Man, Killer, I Love the Dead, School's Out (including Another Brick in the Wall) and Elected.

Alice Cooper - Halloween Night of Fear - UK Tour 2011

Alice Cooper - Birmingham October 2011



Alice Cooper Band on stage - Birmingham 2011



LA Guns (Phil Lewis) - Sunday 9th October 2011, Camden Underworld

A few months after Tracii Guns version of LA Guns, Camden gets another visit from LA Guns. This version consisted of Phil Lewis (vocals) and Steve Riley (drums), 2 original members and to my mind the better version of LA Guns currently doing the rounds. Phil Lewis's LA Guns last played London 3 years ago at the slightly larger venue of Islington Academy. However for a Sunday night a respectable London crowd were in attendance to see if this version could cut it. Starting off with 'It Don't Mean Nothing', Phil Lewis hit the stage wearing a Venetian(?) mask. Not sure of the significance of that, but it was soon removed  for 'Gypsy Soul'. This was swiftly followed by 'Sex Action', 'Never Enough' and 'Over The Edge'. Clearly Phil was enjoying himself, asking the crowd if it "sounds alright or what". Actually the sound was good for the Underworld. Of course this would only be expected from Steve Riley clear drum sound and Stacey Blades guitar playing. However the poor guy nearly had a tantrum when his guitar cut out on 'I Wanna Be Your Man'. It was good to see Phil offer him a hug saying these things happen and he shouldn't get too upset about it. It's a live gig, these things happens! To my mind it adds to the unpredictability of the show. We also got 'Vampire', 'My Koo Ka Choo' and 'Nothing Better to Do' with the clearly excitable bassist, Scotty Griffin taking over lead vocals. Phil returned for 'Sleazy Come Easy Go' and 'Showdown (Riot on Sunset). Phil couldn't help but have a dig at Tracii's version of LA Guns (now they have a female vocalist) likening them to a karaoke band! Ouch!! Anyway back to the music, Steve Riley performed a drum solo. It was good to see him take the spot light as in my opinion he is far too underrated. Now was the homeward straight of  'Electric Gypsy', lighters out for 'The Ballad of Jayne' and finishing off with a riotous 'Rip And Tear'. We were given an encore of 'No Mercy' and sadly it was all over. Come back soon LA Guns (Phil Lewis version).



Phil Lewis - LA Guns



Stacey Blades  - LA Guns