THE MORNING AFTER, Neonfly, A Thousand Enemies @The Roadhouse 20/3/12

We have never come across A Thousand Enemies before, but the Midlands Mob certainly get things going with a bang.

Formed in summer 2011, they have been gigging since, and ploughing a similar furrow to bands like Soil they are an entertaining way to spend half an hour. Man mountain singer Bane has a nice line in jokey patter. He tells the crowd their new video will be “shit” and says they are playing a song called “Forever and a Day” and adds “or fucking ages as we like to call it.” He then tells audience members off for talking when he is.

A band, you surmise, that just wants to play metal because they like it, they are back in Brum this July. Try and give them your support.

Neonfly are positive veterans in these parts, having made their way here three times in the last 10 months or so. And you can only say that the group just gets better and better each time.

Singer Willy Norton is a charismatic and energetic presence and he his ably backed up by twin guitar men Pat Harrington and Frederick Thunder and the five piece have added confidence to their obvious talents and great songs.

Higher up the bill this time, they are afforded a longer stage time and they use it superbly, despite Norton batting tonsillitis and microphone issues. Nearly every song is from debut album “Outshine The Sun” (Norton helpfully points out “they have to be, we only have one.”) but with the road-testing they have undergone over the years, the tracks sound even better than they did just a few short months ago.

“The Messenger” for example sounds even more epic, while “The Enemy” is perhaps their most metal moment. And while “The Ship With No Sails” rattles along like Maiden at their proggiest, they are all eclipsed by superb set closer “Morning Star” – a song which is designed with venues far more epic than The Roadhouse in mind.

By rights, Neonfly should be headlining. But instead that honour falls to The Morning After.” The young Londoners are trying to invigorate the AOR scene of the 1980s, all harmony vocals and posing. Opener “Into The Fire” isn’t bad, but for RTM’s money (and we aren’t great fans of this particular) its downhill from there.

There’s a cover of “Get Your Hands Of My Woman” by The Darkness, which perhaps best sums up TMA’s ethos. This is party music, and as they invite the whole audience onstage to headbang to “Bohemian Rhapsody” it is clear that most enjoy it.

Good luck to them, but we won’t be rushing back to see what they do in the future. This night belonged to Neonfly, who continue to deserve much better than this.