“I’m sure you are all going to the discothèque after us,” says new vocalist Stu Block. “Can you believe they are kicking us out for a disco?” He asks. “Pretty fuckin’ gay!” sneers main man and founder member Jon Schaffer.
What else did you expect from a band who is selling a t-shirt that says “Fuck Posers” and a poster that says, “Don’t be a pussy” over a picture the aforementioned Schaffer angrily playing his axe? Y’see tonight isn’t a night for club anthems. Tonight is a night for horns-up-fist-in-the-air-denim-and-leather-heavy metal.
First up are Fury UK. Most of the near sell-out crowd are in place to see them strut their stuff. RTM has a long history with this band, championing them long before RTM came into being. We have seen them many times since we first clapped eyes on them opening for Blaze Bayley at the Roadhouse; They are nice guys too, allowing one of our mates has bored singer/guitarist Chris Appleton with chat about football last year. But more than anything else they are a damn fine metal band – and they deserve to succeed.
Opening act on the entire Iced Earth European tour, this is another big chance for the Mancunian three piece, following on from their shows with Saxon earlier in the year. Essentially playing the same set as with Biff and the boys, their well honed opener “I See Red,” and “Alien Skies” from last years “A Way Of Life” opus sounding as good as ever, but as always it is “Death By Lightning” complete with jaw-dropping solo from Appleton that leaves you wondering just when the breakthrough will come.
White Wizzard have to follow that, and they do a manful job. A much different proposition than when they last hit these shores 12 months ago. Singer Wyatt Anderson is back behind the mic and they have a superb new record Flying Tigers in the bag. Perhaps as a result they seem much more confident with their sound.
“…Tigers” marks something of a progression for the Los Angeles troupe, with a much more progressive style added to the Trad Metal. Sure, it still sounds like early Maiden, but stand out song “Starchild” for example, is a massive leap forward from previous album “Over The Top”. Anderson bellows and screams, and band leader Jon Leon is formidable axeman. They end, as last year, with signature song “High Speed GTO,” but literally and metaphorically they aren’t the same band this time around.
Iced Earth too have undergone a change of frontman. Gone is the popular Matt Barlow, and in his place is former Into Eternity man Stu Block. If he’s nervous it doesn’t show as he attacks title track of new album “Dystopia” by way of a hello.
What follows is nothing short of a triumph. The band is evidently – and rightly – proud of “Dystopia” and showcases much of it, “Anthem” especially impressive. However it’s a career spanning 90 minutes, going right back to the first album for “When The Night Falls” and the second for “Angels Holocaust.”
“Declaration Day” is delivered with intent, but it is perhaps “Dante’s Inferno, “ that steals the show. An epic song in every sense, clocking in nearly 17 minutes, it allows not only Block to show his formidable range, but also Lead Guitarist Troy Steele, Bass Man Freddie Vidales and Drummer Troy Smedley to join Schaffer in producing technical brilliance to back him up.
Ending as always with “Iced Earth” the band of the same name have delivered the goods in no small measure tonight. One of the shows of the year and yet its relegated effectively to a warm up act for a club night. Sometimes you have to despair at the world we live in, you really do.
The word magnificent would just about sum things up.
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