Category: Live Reviews

Todd
Lords
The Garage, London
07.12.05

Anyone who has lost faith in UK music would do well to pay tonight’s support acts a visit sometime soon. Both Lords and Todd are proof that it’s not all weak indie rock, emo or crud metal out there at the moment, there are actually some people doing genuinely thrilling things with the ye olde’ guitar, bass and drums format, starting off with Lords; a ferocious trio based in the capitol that approach their sonic assaults in the same frame of mind as Steve Albini.

Dry, tight and angular, they throw out twisted shapes of molten rock ‘ala Shellac, combined with the raw rock n’roll strut of (early) Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and they get the night off to an ear-screeching start.

Todd, again from London, specialise in an equally ferocious form of extreme noise terror that is lose and slack but equally as vicious as Lords. Their style of bile and noise harks back to early experiments in sludge and noise heralded by the likes of Killdozer, Tad and The Melvins and best of all, they are blessed with a frontman in Craig Clouse that has the stage presence to push Todd’s noise to new levels of insanity. By the end of the set he’s out in the crowd, dangerously flaying a mic-stand above his head as he bumps psychotically around the crowd, bashing into people and generally trying to rile things up. It works a treat and Todd make an instant and lasting impression upon the audience tonight.

The Fucking Champs feature Tim Green, ex-mover and shaker from hip Washington D.C. punks Nation Of Ulysses; not that you should use that as any indication as to what The Fucking Champs actually sound like.

The noise they make couldn’t be further away from the post-hardcore-punk sounds of Dischord Records. No, The Fucking Champs are rock. Rock as nature intended, carved out of stone by the likes of Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.

The genius of the Champs, however, is they take the template of rock and put their own deranged twist on things, casting spot-on Thin Lizzy style twin-lead guitar solos over a relentless math-rock time signature. Their music never stops moving and evolving, changing and shifting and making the people who wanna dance curse the band’s inability to stay in one place at one time. And all of this is done with an attitude that is a million miles away from the more pretentious aspects of art-rock. The Fucking Champs are not ironic. They play like they believe passionately in rock music but are talented and clever enough to make it different to everyone else. In short, The Fucking Champs rock.

James Sherry

www.thefuckingchamps.com for all info.

Burst
Oxford Brookes Uni
December 3rd 2005

Opeth’s Ghost Reveries opus was always going to be a risky venture. With the addition of a permanent new member of the band; keyboardist Per Wiberg, who appeared on the band’s last tour on the back of their Deliverance/Damnation albums; and the signing to metal giants Roadrunner; well known for their associations with uber popular rockers Nickelback; Ghost Reveries and the subsequent touring of it, would be detrimental to either propelling the band into the stratosphere, or having the always contentious tag of ‘sell out’ attached to them.

The support for tonight’s show couldn’t have been better picked. Fellow Swedes Burst are seemingly also on the brink of superstardom, what with UK publications such as Kerrang! And Metal Hammer both highly rating the experimental noise mongerers.

With their deeply layered guitar sound, seemingly disjointed, atmospheric mix of both hardcore and metal sound and that oh so familiar mix of melodic singing with harsh growled vocals, Burst sound fairly fresh and inventive on record. Unfortunately, live, this sentiment isn’t realised. The songs seem to meander onwards into the unknown, before the audience is violently awoken again by a crushing Mastodon like chugging riff; yet just as the heads start to instinctively nod to the beat, it changes into a long drawn out mix of speedily strummed, distorted chords and irregular melodic lead guitar lines. It simply is just too much for your average audience member to handle, and subsequently the crowd reaction is a very pensive and confused one. Definitely some work is needed, if Burst are to impress on stage, and step into the big shoes the music press has already hyped up for them.

Mikael Åkerfeldt walks on stage with that self assured confidence of a man who knows he could probably spend an hour farting into the microphone, and yet the fans would lap it up and bay for more. And rightly so, Opeth have built up a reputation of writing incredibly original, intricately written music, mixing crushing heaviness with melodic beauty not often seen in the field of artists Opeth are often roped in with. And they can bring it live as well, picking up rave reviews like Steven Spielberg picks up Oscars.

Starting off with their magnificent album opener from Ghost Reveries, the crowd have already been drawn in, hook, line and sinker. They’re watching a band who have practically attained mythical status in the closed off, underground circles of the metal world, but who have now made a video (perish the thought) and had one of their latest tracks edited for radio. This shouldn’t be, but it is, each and every song is as breathtakingly well performed as the last, sounding ten times as brutal as it did on the record, and because of this, sounding even more beautiful.

Nearly all Opeth songs follow this ‘beauty and the beast‘ pattern, with softened acoustic breakdowns for each song, followed by riff upon riff of pure gold, heaviness wise. They follow the foot stomping White Cluster from their “red album” (as Åkerfeldt) names it, (Still Life for those not familiar) with the folkish cleanliness of Closure, which in turn overlaps wonderfully into Bleak.

This is metal Jim, but not as we know it…and you manage to feel privileged to be there, as if Opeth have especially invited you to watch them at work. Except from the beaming look on Åkerfeldt’s face, it simply doesn’t look like work. His crowd banter is genuinely amusing, having a quick game of Judas Priest music trivia before the encore track….”The music video to Breaking The Law, good or bad?………….that’s right, it was fucking bad”. It sure was Mike. It sure was.

As the band walk off after the hypnotically brutal ending bars of Deliverance fade into feedback, you can’t help staring after them in amazement and being truly thankful there’s bands like Opeth around to tour the smaller venues, rather than simply playing the Astoria and considering the UK conquered. Watch this band carefully, as soon they WILL be everyone’s favourite band.

SETLIST:

Ghost of Perdition
When
White Cluster
Closure
Bleak
The Grand Conjugation
Under The Weeping Moon
Baying of the Hounds
A Final Judgement
—————————–
Deliverance

5/5
Daniel Crouch

The Forum – London
02.12.05

To those not versed in the ways of modern hardcore, the scene greeting them on the dancefloor tonight would have their jaws thudding to the floor. It’s still early in the evening and already a gang of thick-necked hardcore motherfuckers are performing a bizarre dance ritual that involves flaying their feet and fists around as violently as possible while Boston’s THE RED CHORD provide the ideal soundtrack to the rampant displays of aggression. Unbelievably tight and powerful, their Dillinger Escape Plan meets Slayer metalcore is a damn sight more preferable to the cringe-inducing rock posturing of BLEED FROM THE SKY that follows them. Frontman Noah Robinson’s habit of switching between grunted vocals and tuneless supposedly melodic wailings is horribly irritating and his stage raps to hot chicks and hard drinking would be better suited to a Motley Crue show.

BORN FROM PAIN are from Holland, not that you’d know it from the ridiculous fake American accent frontman Che Snelting insists on talking in. Their music doesn’t fare much better either, rarely breaking out of the same chugga-chugga tempo that so many metalcore bands get trapped in.

NAPALM DEATH are the daddies of extreme music. Grindcore? They invented it. Blastbeats? They invented those too. Fake American accents? No chance! Everything Napalm Death do is genuine and honest and they roar through a set that shows these young metalcore pups how it should be done. From the short sharp shocks of their groundbreaking early material (‘Scum’ and ‘Life’ sound as brutal as ever) to the title track of this years ‘The Code Is Red‘ album, their entire set is a lesson in brutal power and speed, climaxing with a glorious white noise cover of the Dead Kennedy’s anti-fascist classic ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off‘.

AGNOSTIC FRONT were one of the first bands to bring the then very separate worlds of hardcore and metal together, a fact they are keen to celebrate by devoting a large chunk of their set tonight to their ground-breaking mid-eighties ‘Cause For Alarm‘ album, before Barney from Napalm joins them onstage for a riot inciting stomp through ‘Blind Justice’. Pure hardcore perfection.

All that’s left now is for HATEBREED to level the place with one final punishing hardcore attack. Although not the most original band around, they are so ferociously heavy it’s impossible not to be knocked out by their sheer brute force. ‘Nobody stand still, let’s turn this place into a Warzone,’ bellows frontman Jamey Jasta and the audience respond accordingly bringing the night to an end with a vulgar display of testosterone that threatens to bring the entire venue crashing to its foundations.

JAMES SHERRY

Les Savy Fav
Thunderbirds Are Now!
The Garage, London
30.11.05

Thunderbirds Are Now! are buddies of Les Savy Fav who also happen to have their debut album ‘Justamustache‘ recently released via the Fav’s own label French Kiss. And true friends help each other out right? Les Savy Fav have done the right thing and have brought Thunderbirds over to the UK for the first time and right from the start of their set it’s immediately obvious we’re in the company of greatness. They are rocking and wild, yet slick, tight and melodic and manage to walk the difficult line between quirky post-hardcore and commercial rock without compromising either aspect of their sound. This is a band you’re going to be hearing a lot about next year and the buzz starts right here. Besides, any friend of Les Savy Favs’ is a friend of ours. Such is the greatness of the mighty Les Savy Fav, anything they touch turns to gold so the Thunderbirds future is in good hands and watch them go!

Les Savy Fav have been deconstructing rock for nearly ten years now. Sounding like a spiky collision between the angular dance rock of Gang Of Four and the scratchy white noise anger of Fugazi, they are led by the gloriously unhinged frontman Tim Harrington, who, it wouldn’t be unfair to say, has the wild crazy eyes and unkempt appearance of a hobo and borderline schitsophrenic. We’re sure he’s a lovely well balanced individual offstage, but put him in front of a crowd and he turns into a twitching, mischievous imp dead set on causing confusion and disorder around him as the band provide the brilliant soundtrack to his insanity. At one point he grabs a video camera from someone in the front row and swings it above his head, then he’s got his big belly out, climbing around the stage, sinking his teeth into the P.A. system, itching to cause that little bit more chaos and constantly pushing the boundaries. He also has a great voice, injecting addictive vocal melodies into every riff and rhythm and allowing tracks like ‘We’ll Make A Lover Out Of You‘ and ‘Rome (Upside Down)‘ to creep into your subconscious and stick!

Yet, considering how amazing Les Savy Fav are tonight, you’re still left with the feeling that they were holding something back. Past tours have seen them reach amazing new levels of musical insanity but tonight it was almost as if they didn’t want to embarrass Weird War by blowing them right off the stage, which they could have easily done and quite frankly, did.

Weird War feature Ian Svenonius from classic Dischord Records bands Nation Of Ulysses and The Make Up although Weird War aren’t a patch on his former visionary bands. Weird War play clean and funky rock n’roll that is just way too clean and not rock n’roll enough. While Ian’s past bands have been abrasive and harsh, Weird War’s white man funk just isn’t particularly good. Or funky.

Predictably, the crowd thins considerable during Weird War’s headline set. Maybe next time they won’t be foolish enough to allow Les Savy Fav on before them!

James Sherry

Test Icicles
London – Brixton Academy
16/11/05

The sense of occasion is oddly lacking inside the Brixton Academy tonight.

It’s the second date of Alkaline Trio’s first full UK tour since 2003, of which every date has sold out… except for tonight. Granted, punk bands rarely sound great at the Academy, but the Trio’s recent ‘Crimson’ album has arguably won them more fans than ever before. Still, there’s no point in dwelling on the matter, although doing so would probably be more entertaining than the mediocre art-rock of openers Sunshine.

It’s left to Mike Park (the founder of Asian Man Records, who released the Trio’s first two albums) to really get things started, with only the help of his acoustic guitar and a short but intriguing Plea For Peace documentary played on a projector. Although unknown to most of the crowd, his excellent folk-pop songs still incite a mass singalong from the devoted few at the front. He’d probably sound better in a small club or bar, but nevertheless manages to create a certain intimacy in the Academy’s cavernous confines – an achievement in itself.

London-based trio Test Icicles stick out like a sore thumb on this bill, with their hyperactive stage presence and blasts of feedback laden art-punk chaos that just about pass for songs. Occasional applause is largely drowned out by boos and cries of “Get off!“, but to their credit, the band don’t seem bothered, and instead concentrate on sounding increasingly louder and weirder. Good strategy!

The venue is respectably full by the time Alkaline Trio hit the stage, but as Matt Skiba and co. blast into the opening ‘Back To Hell’, our fears are confirmed: the sound is terrible. Worst affected is Dan Andriano’s bass, which is little more than an indistinct rumble for the first few songs, thankfully improving slightly thereafter. The crowd go nuts from the start, but the band themselves seem somewhat lost on the Academy’s spacious stage.

It’s understandable that ‘Crimson‘ material dominates the Trio’s set, but it’s debatable as to whether it measures up to old favourites like ‘Clavicle‘, ‘My Friend Peter’ and – let’s be honest here – the entirety of the brilliant ‘Maybe I’ll Catch Fire‘ album. Suffice to say that most of these don’t get played tonight; a likely bone of contention among the band’s long-term fans.

Still, an encore of ‘Time To Waste‘ and the classic ‘Radio‘ ensures that most of us leave Brixton happy. It certainly wasn’t a vintage Alkaline Trio gig, but the faults lie more with the venue than the band. Maybe two nights at the Astoria next time, eh guys?

Alex Gosman

The Scala – London
24th November 2005

When we heard that this gig was for real it was a no brainer, we were never gonna miss it. Both bands have been played to death here at HQ all year round so the promise of a show together was the kiss of life. Sub Pop’s Wolf Parade opened the show but we missed them by an inch but made it in good time to see Dead Meadow hit the stage in good time. Dead Meadow have been around since 1988 and come from the wonderful music state of Washington DC, and area that has spawned some of the best bands in underground history such as Henry Rollins, Fugazi, and Minor Threat.

Over these years about 5 albums have been released, (in fact one of them even came out on Fugazi bassist Joe Lally’s Tolotta Records and they were the only band to have a Peel Session recorded out of the BBC studios as well fact finders) so tonight was a good show to check out some of their previous material as well as tracks from the classic current record “Feathers“.

Now, there was confusion before the show about who was going to headline tonight but after what must have been a flick of the coin the Meadow took to the stage early and played what was more like a headline slot! It was electric, and built up bit by bit from start to finish until the field was full and the crowd was in a firm trance. For a 3 piece, they have quite a remarkable sound that transcends well from the record to the stage.

With the constant flow of bass skills from Steve Kille and the mesmerizing anchor man in drummer Stephen McCarty you have one of the most solid rhythm sections on the planet. This skill helps vocalist/guitarist Jason Simon produce his layered vocals coated in reverb with what looks like little effort although you know somehow he is thinking every note as he twangs yet another 2 minute stoner solo. This band has the knack to jam your lazy arse into the ground. Taking Hendrix by the horns, twisting it round with the heaviness of Sabbath and the psychedelic drugs of the Verve b-sides, the Meadow are a force to feel tonight and drummer McCarty shows how good he is with drum rolls that mulch your brain. I was way too stoned to remember each song but I do know that they finished with a killer version of the hidden track form the end of the Feathers album that destroyed people. It was an amazing show but Black Mountain had not even played yet and it felt as if nothing could ever match what we had just witnessed.

The show Black Mountain played this year at Metro was incredible but also looked a little tight for space on the night. Tonight they seemed comfortable on a bigger stage with a better PA and they managed to turn the entire crowd into a warbling wreck within the first 4 songs. The monstrous Don’t Run Our Hearts Around, No Satisfaction and Modern Music kicked in to get the crowds blood flowing after the Meadow had destroyed all vein action which led to a killer Druganaut session and some early stuff before the folk imploded Heart of Snow, the demanding, blood rushing No Hits and the mellow Set Us Free literally glued people’s feet to the ground.

Once again, the rhythm section is faultless and gels together something that could easily fall apart if the wrong people are holding fort. But the Mountain have one of the tightest operations going since Scrooge and the most interesting thing about this is Stephen Mcbean’s presence. He plays so casually and makes near to no eye contact with the crowd whatsoever. His demeanor is one of a prowling fox who makes no bones about stinging a progressive solo through your ears with distortion without emotion. Mix this with the eerie vocals of Amber Webber whose delivery must be akin to a stoner Portishead and you have a Mountain to climb on your own. The band are on fire and we all melted to the sound of it tonight.

At the end, members from Dead Meadow joined them onstage which ensured a jam of chronic proportions and what a great way to end a perfect night out. Looking back though, one of the main reasons that this night was so good is that it was all fuelled by a bunch of people discovering 2 of the best records that have stood out of the crowd this year. The indie scene is thriving, it’s operated on a small scale but good word of mouth is never wrong when the bands are this good. Smokin’…

Zac

In Flames
Girlschool
Brixton Academy, London
19.11.05

Girlschool and Motorhead have a lot of history between them. They had a huge hit in the early eighties with a joint version of the Johnny Kid And The Pirates rock n’roll classic ‘Please Don’t Touch‘ and toured the UK together to promote the release. Given Lemmy’s reputation with the ladies, Girlschool were lucky to get out with their knickers intact and over twenty years later they’re back onstage with Motorhead as though the last few years hadn’t happened and time has stood still.

They’ve actually aged remarkably well, and strut the stage still full of attitude and vigour, blasting through early eighties metal classics like ‘Emergency‘ and ‘Hit And Run‘. Sure, they sound dated and of their time but the energy and attitude is very much intact. Their set ends with Lemmy himself joining them onstage for a blistering run through ‘Please Don’t Touch’, apparently the first time they’ve played it live together. Great stuff!

If tonight’s gig was a sandwich then In Flames would be the young fresh filling between two crusty old slices of bread! Theirs is obviously a far more modern band then the headliners, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a better one. They certainly please the younger members of the audience who are more accustomed to those modern death metal sounds, but this Swedish five-piece do suffer from an unfortunately murky sound that buries many of the more subtle melodic aspects of their sound. That said, they put on a high energy and spirited performance and don’t suffer too much abuse from the notoriously hard to please hardcore Motorhead fans.

Brixton Academy can be a terrible venue for rock bands. It’s sheer size and acoustics can often reduce even the toughest sounding rock bands to a sludgy mush. Not Motorhead. This is the band that still like to have everything louder than everything else and when they hit the stage to ‘Dr Rock‘ they sound like a bomb going off. The power and force that comes from these three quite old men is absolutely stunning and cuts through the venue like a knife. And right from the start, they give the crowd exactly what they want; no fucking around, just brute force rock n’roll power and some of the greatest rock songs of all time. They’re all here tonight – ‘Stay Clean‘, ‘Killed By Death‘, ‘No Class‘, ‘Going To Brazil‘, ‘Iron Fist‘ – every song a classic and each a memorable moment from their long career. Of course they end the set with ‘Ace Of Spades‘ and the whole venue goes nuclear before the double-kick drum intro of ‘Overkill‘ pounds through the P.A. and we’re off into one of the ultimate metal classics. ‘The only way to feel the noise is when it’s good and loud,’ barks Lemmy in the opening line of the song. And he’s damn right. Take those fucking earplugs out and feel the force.

There’s no one quite like Motorhead.

JAMES SHERRY

The Borderline – London
21.11.05

“We feel about a million miles away from home right now” admits beardy Baroness guitarist John Baizley as the reality of the band’s first long distance tour away from home dawns on him. ‘But thank you for making us feel so welcome.’ The pleasure, however, is all ours! Tonight, Georgia based quartet Baroness are an absolute revelation. Drawing their influences from many different aspects of heavy music, they fuse crust punk, tech-metal, prog rock and slabs of sonic sludge with classic metal riffs for an end result that sounds like Discharge, Isis, Mastodon, Eyehategod, Iron Maiden and the Melvins all at once.

And while their two EP’s are well worth tracking down, live they are utterly majestic, lurching and bellowing across the stage and making us wonder how on earth Capricorns are going to follow this. But if any band is fit enough to take on the challenge, it’s London’s Capricorns. Arriving onstage with a tense, determined look upon their faces, they immediately set about giving the Yanks a run for their money. No, this isn’t a competition but it’s a real pleasure to see a UK metal band this good and tonight, still buzzing from the creative success of their debut album ‘Ruder Forms Survive‘, Capricorns show a heaviness and depth within the grinding epic instrumental voyages of ‘Exit Wargasmatron‘ and ‘The Harrying Of The Heathen‘ that is sorely needed on this Island infested with weak commercial crap and a timely reminder of just how breathing-taking and challenging heavy music can be. None more heavy.

JAMES SHERRY

London Brixton Academy
14/11/05

Over the past few years, the increasing popularity of the hardcore/metal influenced bands on the Vans Warped Tour prompted ideas for a separate tour, devoted to these kinds of bands. It debuted in the US earlier this year with huge success, and as a result, a UK leg was put together – with a total of nine bands playing under the banner of Taste Of Chaos (insert your own ‘Casey from Amen‘-themed bad joke here). Tonight is the tour’s last date – a second sold-out night at London’s Brixton Academy.

Reggie And The Full Effect are first on; unfortunately, the sheer length of the queue means that I only see the last ten minutes of James Dewees and co’s bizarre but excellent collage of thrash and synth-laden pop punk. The crowd appears happy but a little confused, which can only be a good thing. These guys really should have been higher up the bill.

A little enthusiasm can go a long way, and so it proves with Story Of The Year, as they relentlessly bounce around the stage like kangaroos on Red Bull. It’s just as well; given that the Missouri quintet’s overly slick metallic hardcore sound is nothing to get too excited over. Still, the punters seem to love them, and they clearly appreciate it. Out of the three local bands picked to play tonight, the best of bunch is the one-man Essex-based extravaganza that is Get Cape Wear Cape Fly. Sam and his beloved laptop suffer worst from the infamous Brixton Academy echo, but he still wins a few more fans with his reflective beat-laden acoustic tracks. Good things are surely to come.

However, it is Rise Against who truly kick this event into gear, blasting through a set of fiercely intelligent melodic with total conviction. Their recent ‘Siren Song Of The Counter Culture‘ album has clearly won them several new fans, and the likes of ‘State Of The Union‘ and ‘Like The Angel‘
are nothing short of anthemic. Tonight, Rise Against sound like a band to believe in.

Given that Killswitch Engage leader/guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz was unable to join his band for this tour due to health problems, it’s a pleasant surprise that the Massachusetts metal crew still sound as monolithically impressive as ever, with their trademark thunderous riffs inciting mayhem in the pit.

The Used singer Bert McCracken joins them for a soaring ‘The End Of Heartache‘, whilst additional guitar help from a roadie ensures that the closing brace of ‘My Last Serenade‘ and ‘Rose Of Sharyn‘ take no prisoners. Quite possibly the band of the evening.

Unfortunately, we are now taken on a trip to the more commercial, watered-down end of emo-metal with The Used and headliners Funeral For A Friend. The former band like their huge choruses to the extent that they often resemble some godawful 80’s AOR band, and only truly shine on fan favourite ‘The Taste Of Ink’. FFAF may rock harder, but this doesn’t excuse their lack of memorable songs, maybe with ‘Juneau‘ and ‘History‘ excepted. It’s hard to feel much pride for a British band headlining a tour of this size, when the UK has so many better bands to offer. So what does Chaos Taste like? Well, on tonight’s evidence, it gets a little bitter towards the end, but there’s still enough good stuff to make you want a second helping. Roll on TOC 2006…

Alex Gosman

Brixton Academy
11 November 2005

Before I even walk through the doors of Brixton, my eyes graze a field of tribute Billy haircuts. This is Billy *fucking* Idol. The music we were either brought up with or forced to listen to on loooooonnnngggg drives with our folks. This music marks the revolutionary history that has brought you to this very website, on this very page. Just as Debbie Harry, Black Sabbath and The Doors paved the way, Billy played his peroxide James-Dean punk rock part. There was no supporting band! Just pure 100% uncensored Billy Idol for 2 and a half hours! No wonder he is still sporting a six-pack at 50-odd, which he proudly strips down to between songs, and it still makes the gals holla! He looks the perfect plastic surgery picture of health after surviving drug overdoses, and a bike accident! It was a majestic display of pure speed.., I mean stamina!

In their own right they are all amazing musicians. Steve the lead guitarist plays the most majestic Spanish-almost a little Country-and-Western solos. The drummer not only juggles while playing the most incredible drums, but also plays guitar!…well enough to take on Steve Stevens! The keyboardist plays 2 keyboards at the same time. And Billy not only writes and sings, but has hidden talents as a pretty nifty guitarist. It was a generously well-balanced gig for most of the band members. My only criticism being that the bassist should have stepped up to the plate a little more. Raging waters run deep and all 6 of them are annoyingly talented!

Billy seemed to be stoked to be making his comeback. He kept thanking the crowd, signing autographs and throwing out free gear! The sweeter side of the punk-rocker nobody sees in photos. Maybe he thought nobody would stay for the music? With the mass support shown by die-hard fans and gay community alike, I am sure he was pleasantly surprised.

They played all the classics as you can imagine, just loads and loads all in the span of an exhausting, and everlasting 2.5 hours! I must completely say this has been one of my top gigs for 2005, and saying that I have probably lost credibility for all future reviews…No really, it was the perfect balance of nostalgia, new tracks and good old fashioned Rock ‘n Roll in the truest sense. I left exhausted and grateful that the band gave us their blood, sweat and tears all in one evening.

Hopefully they will be around next year if they don’t burn themselves out, or walk down old paths. Billy did promise a new album on the horizon after all…Good luck to ya fitting that in!

Niki Kova’cs

Image stolen from www.jencray.com
(sorry, Crossfire could not get any photo’s at the show)