You wont find any “scene” here. No metalcore, deathcore, or djent, instead what you will find is two bands who are rooted in a 70s sound. As The Answer singer Cormac Neeson will put it: “Good evening Birmingham, our business with you is rock n roll.” And what is wrong with that?
So it is perfect then, that Gentlemans Pistols are the openers. The Leeds’ band stunning new album “At Her Majesties Pleasure” is the perfect realization of their vision and with guitarist Bill Steer – ex of Carcass and Napalm Death – added to their ranks it marks a giant leap forward from their debut.
Kicking off tonight with the one, two punch from that new record of “Living in Sin Again” and “Comfortably Crazy” they show their new material off with aplomb. Singer/Guitarist James Atkinson, who is apparently wearing the same awful vest he was when they were last in these parts six months ago, preens and struts and Bass loon Douglas McLaughlin is his perfect foil, their half an hour is a triumph.
It is something approaching make-or-break time for The Answer. The Northern Ireland boys have rather hit the wall, arguably losing the early buzz they created. Having spent two years on the road with AC/DC, they changed record labels and are more or less back where it all started. Not for nothing, you suspect, is their new album called “Revival.”
Certainly they begin like a band with something to prove. Launching straight into “Under The Sky” from debut album “Rise,” which still remains their tour-de-force. But they are justifiably proud of their new opus, playing six songs from it during the course of their 90-minute set. Current single “Vida (I Want You) swaggers in a funky, almost Aerosmith-esque type way and “Piece By Piece” (which appears on the deluxe version) is just damn catchy.
The aforementioned Neeson is in an energetic mood, singing part of “Preachin’ from in the crowd. He looks every inch the shadow of Robert Plant and performs with real conviction and what appears to be genuine humility.
Indeed, if there is a criticism of The Answer tonight it is that those obvious Zeppelin references morph into two or three over-long jam sessions, which detract from the flow a little.
But that’s a minor quibble. Because on the evidence tonight, The Answer are not only back, they are better – and hungrier - than ever.
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