RIVAL SONS, Ulysses, Pint Sized Hero @Slade Rooms 29/9/12

Pint Sized Hero are chuffed to bits to be here. The grins on their faces tell you as much.

The Kent band are adopting a “cottage industry” approach to Rock n Roll, releasing their “Get Your Kicks” album themselves, so bagging the opening slot on this tour is a pretty big – and important deal.

Their songs have just the right amount of retro to pull it off. “Barberella” and the albums title track get things moving pretty well, while the new song they air before they end (so new it doesn’t have a name yet) hinted at a future with some heavier riffs.

Bath’s Ulysses are far too cool to show happiness, but they too have a real 1970s vibe to their tunes. To RTM they sounded like The Kinks playing hard Rock songs with The White Stripes. Not bad at all, but a touch more stage presence wouldn’t go amiss.

Rival Sons have become a reasonably big deal. Album number three, “Head Down” has gone into the British Charts at 19, and is top of the Rock section. Moreover, last November RTM saw them play The Slade Rooms. This show is at the bigger Wulfrun around the corner – we predicted they would rise fast and for once it seems, we were right.

They have done so on the back of embracing the old and the new. They have released good records, gone on tour with everybody they can and done the old school things to build a fanbase. However, they have also embraced social media to get their message out there. Perhaps as a result of this there are a lot more young people here than you might normally get for what is essentially a retro act.

If 2011’s “Pressure and Time” was a stunning affair – and the band begin with the title track from it tonight – the just released “Head Down” is more of a grower.  “Wild Animal” sounds heavier than on record, while “You Want To” grooves along. “All The Way” with its supposedly jokey lyrics doesn’t quite work.

“…Down’s” first single “Keep On Swinging” goes down a storm when tossed out mid-set, while anyone who doesn’t enjoy “Burn Down Los Angeles” from “…Time” is, frankly, an idiot and there is a dip back to the first CD with “Memphis Son.”

The main set was, from start to finish, a triumph. But things do go slightly array in the encore. Manifest pts 1 and 2 are jammed on a little bit too long, and closing number, the brilliant on record “Soul” goes the same way.

These quibbles aside, the Sons deserve their success and posses real talent. Guitar man Scott Holliday can knock out a mean riff and singer Jay Buchanan evokes –probably intentionally – memories of Robert Plant and Chris Robinson.

Rival Sons are already very, very good. If they cut down slightly on the jamming they could be exceptional. 

TRACER, Virgil And The Accelerators @Wolverhampton Slade Rooms 26/9/12

Impossibly young they might be, but Virgil And The Accelerators understand blues-rock.

The Midlands based trio – the McMahon brothers Virgil and Gabriel and drummer Jack Alexander – have been one of the most hard working bands in Britain for a couple of years now, playing everywhere and with everyone they can.

As a result of this they give an assured performance that belies their tender years. “Backstabber” is perhaps the most accessible moment, but really there is nothing bad here. A couple of the songs are strung out into jams, and the band don’t bother to hide their Hendrix fixation, playing Jimi’s “The Storm” before the end.

Things in the Tracer camp ostensibly look pretty good. Stellar album “The Distance Between Us” has been doing impressive business and this is their second – and by far the biggest – headline run of the UK in 2012.

However, just before the European tour kicked off founder member Leigh Brown decided that enough was enough. His brother Michael (vocals and guitar) and drummer Andre Brown just got on with it, though, and have recruited bass man Pat Saracino as Leigh’s replacement.

If Saracino has, as Brown puts it in response to a request for “Push” “only learnt 12 songs, so we can’t play that one” then his short tenure in the band hasn’t unduly affected the trio.

One of the few Aussie rock bands that don’t sound like AC/DC, Tracer take their cues from bands like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. It would be wrong, too to suggest that there were not elements of fellow Aussie’s Powderfinger in their sound – this is particularly evident in “Voice In The Rain”, which acts as a change of pace tonight roughly halfway through the just over an hour long set.

Most of tonight is drawn from “….Between” with the title track, “Devils Ride” and straight ahead rocker “The Bitch” sounding heavier live, with Brown’s excellent guitar work shining throughout.

If anyone doubted the boys’ metal heart then “Walk On” morphs into “War Pigs” pretty seamlessly, before they encore with the single “Too Much” which in years gone by might have bothered the upper echelons of the top 40.

Line-up setbacks notwithstanding, Tracer might just be on the cusp of something big. They are soon to go record album number three with uber-producer Kevin Shirley (Maiden, BCC and just about everyone else). In old school rock circles album number three used to break a band, and as there is something distinctly retro about Tracer and the way they have built a fan base on the road, who knows? It might just be their “Slippery When Wet.”

HEAVY METAL KIDS, JD And The FDC's, Starving Dogs @Roadhouse Birmingham 26/9/12

“Tuesday night in Birmingham.” Says Heavy Metal Kids frontman Justin McConville, as he looks out on a crowd of about 40 people. You could forgive him for wondering why they bothered.

McConville knows, though, that this could have been a lot worse. Starving Dogs, the covers band that opened this evening had suffered from the most awful sound RTM has ever heard in 21 years of gig going. In fairness they also suffered from a dreadful lack of ability, and their version of “The Boys Are Back In Town” wouldn’t have sounded good blasting through Wembley’s PA. How you can spoil Thin Lizzy, who knows, but these boys do. They do, however, achieve one feat. They have a go at “Whole Lotta Rosie” and manage to make a a bigger dogs dinner of it than Guns N Roses in 2010, hitherto the worst cover version RTM has ever heard – so well done to them.

Thankfully by the time JD And The FDC’s hit the stage things sound wise are largely sorted, and good job too, as JD and his mates are superb. Dressed in black and playing their instruments like they damn well mean it. The band manage to blend early Wildhearts, Total 13 era Backyard Babies and The Clash and make the whole thing sound fresh and new.

“Never Gonna Stop” sounds to RTM a little like “Hey Kid” by the long forgotten Johnny Crash. But their anthem is the amazingly catchy “Burn This City Down.” By the time they have finished “Stupid Music Played By Idiots”- which sees JD and various FDC’s marching round the sparse crowd and getting them to sing the chorus, you would have had to have been idiot yourself not to love them.

The tiny audience might have left the HMK’s deflated, but they still get out and do the business. It is easy to see why they might have given up. Quite why no one wants to watch a band play the likes of “Blow It All Away,” “Chelsea Kiss,” “Crisis “ and “Old Time Boogie” is anybody's guess as they are tremendously well-crafted late 1970s sounding hard rock.

The band – featuring three long term members, drummer Keith Boyce, bass man Ronnie Thomas and guitarist Cosmo - have been doing this for years. The tour is to celebrate the re-issue of their classic 1977 album “Kitsch” and they feel able to knock out their big single from that record “She’s No Angel” halfway through the 70 minute set with the confidence of a band who can do this in their sleep.

They play Montrose’s “Rock Candy,” a track they had done when supporting UFO earlier in the year before finishing with a race through the barroom punk boogie of “Delirious.”

HMK’s – together with a huge help from a fantastic support act – managed to rescue a victory from the jaws of what looked like a car crash at one point, and for that they deserve credit. But RTM will bet right now that the next time they play Brum it won’t be here. 

MALEFICE, Silent Screams @Academy 3 21/9/12

Silent Screams are a band that is very much a product of their time. They are young, covered in tattoos and ambitious. They share much in common with former touring partners Bring Me The Horizon, and a producer with Asking Alexandria, which gives some clues about where they are coming from musically.

Their preparation for this tour hasn’t been ideal, literally days ago have just suffered a change of vocalist, but if new man Joel Haywood is suffering from nerves on the second night of the tour, he doesn’t show it. Boasting an impressive stage presence and a decent line in screams and growls, he seems right at home tonight. The band rampages through “Burning Bridges,” “When It Rains” and the almost Trivium like “Till There’s Nothing Left” during in an energetic set. And, whilst this will never be the sort of music that troubles RTM too much, in the right circles Silent Screams could go down very well indeed.

In between bands we listen to Rick Astley’s 80s pop bobbins “Never Gonna Give You Up” for half an hour on a constant repeat. Malefice singer Dale Butler later admits to liking the song. If it’s true we will have to forgive him the lapse. Malefice, you see, are very good indeed and are entitled to dance round their handbags to Stock, Aitken and Waterman songs then so be it.

This is the fourth time RTM has seen the group in the last 12 months. Opening the main stage at Bloodstock as well as being on the bill with Sylosis and Rise To Remain is one thing, this though, is quite another. A major headline tour with plenty of dates and your name on the top of the poster is a big deal, and it is up to Malefice to pull off a headline show.

That they do – and do so well- should not have come as a surprise to anyone. In short, these boys know what they are doing. It is a tried and tested set, which sees them start with the string intro from the title track of the astonishingly good 2011 album “Awaken The Tides” before having a crack at “Delirium,” arguably that album’s stand-out song.

There’s a couple of songs from the previous album “Dawn of Reprisal” in the shape of “Sickened” and “The Midas Effect” a trawl back to almost their beginnings with “Dreams Without Courage” getting an airing, before an encore of sorts with recent single “Omega” getting played.

In fact, the only thing wrong with Malefice is that rest of the country hasn’t quite latched onto their brilliance. Not for nothing, you suspect is this trek called The Perseverance Tour.” The problem for a band like Malefice is that whilst they don’t have a sound that can put them in Kerrang! And into the mainstream, they should be right at the forefront of the UK metal scene, and yet there is barely 70 people here for this. On a Friday night in Birmingham that is probably not good enough at this stage of their careers.

Butler tells us at the end that Malefice have finished album number, perhaps scheduling a further period of activity in 2013. No doubt, it will be fantastic and maybe, finally the perseverance will pay off. We can only hope.

FIREWIND, Leaves Eyes @Queens Hall, Nuneaton 19/9/12

Female fronted Symphonic metal is a genre of music that has largely passed RTM by over the years.

As a consequence of this we had never come across Leaves Eyes before. The Norwegian’s sound is largely built round the soaring operatic style vocals of Liv Kristine, who is periodically joined by Alexander Krull to growl his way through his bits. Giving a similar effect to effect to Epica

As far as RTM is concerned it is the Krull songs that work best with “Oceans Way” and “Take The Devil In Me” sounding particularly impressive. Their set is a long one for a support act, clocking up around an hour, and not being keen students of the style it does begin to grate after that length of time. Leaves Eyes were good in small doses, though.

Firewind by contrast are just good full stop. As everyone knows by now they are the band of one Gus G, the current sideman to the Prince of Darkness himself. Gus is the new guitarist in the Ozzy Osbourne band. He is the new Randy Rhodes, the latest Zakk Wylde and he is very special indeed.

Tonight he is doing his day job. Firewind are a Greek Heavy Power metal band that Gus formed and over a decade ago and they have been putting out fine records throughout that time.

Album number seven, “Few Against Many” came out this year and maintains the standards. It is with the opening track from that “Wall of Sound” that Firewind begin tonight, built around a stunning riff (as you might expect) and a catchy chorus, it is one of the albums many high points.

Thankfully, though, this is no album show. Instead the band – for this is very much a group rather than a Gus G solo spot – stretch out and play songs from all their albums. So we get the Maiden-esque melody of “Mercenary Man” – one of four songs from 2008’s “The Premonition” opus mixing with “…Many” songs like “Losing My Mind,” perhaps the most overtly “Ozzy” sounding track on show.

And if you thought that this would be an excuse for Gus to play solo after solo like Black Label’s shows with Zakk sometimes become, then think again. Yes there is a solo freak out together with the instrumental “The Fire And The Fury,” but here is a gig where the song very much is King.  The band are pro’s too, Drummer, Johan Nunez, has a problem with his kit causing a delay, so ebullient frontman Apollo Papathanasio is soon turning into Freddie Mercury and leading a crowd sing-a-long before normal service is resumed.

Liv Kristine is back during the encore, duetting with Papathanasio on “Breaking The Silence” and if that all got a bit Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, “Falling To Pieces ands things on a more metallic note.

This was a brilliant gig. And all too often people would rather focus on Gus G’s “other” job, rather than the one you suspect gives him the most the pleasure.

Superb.

FU MANCHU, The Shrine @O2 Academy 2 Birmingham 17/9/12

Psychedelic Skate Rock is how Venice Beach, California’s The Shrine bill themselves. They are evidently pleased to come from Venice Beach, because they tell us where they come from three times during their 35 minute set, but whilst the location might evoke the twangy sound of the Byrds and so forth, they have a sound that owes a lot more to a band called Black Sabbath that was formed a little closer to our home.

In short The Shrine are exactly the sort of band you would want to support Fu Manchu. Heavy and fuzzy they are cranking out some fine stoner grooves. Vocalist/Lead guitar man Josh Landau is a cross between Slash and Franz Zappa, a mass of hair, but he can most certainly play. More than that we defy anyone who likes this type of metal to listen “Whistling’s Of Death” and title track of their debut album “Primitive Blast” and not find something very much to enjoy. Get into The Shrine, now, before everybody else does!

Following them would be a tough for most bands, but then most bands aren’t Fu Manchu. Lets be totally honest about this, with the possible exception of Monster Magnet, no one does this type of US Stoner metal better than Scott Hill and the boys – and that includes Kyuss for our money.

Their legacy is sufficient to see them be able to play to a reasonable crowd at a reasonable sized venue in the middle of a reasonable length tour of the UK. This rather sums FM up. Never quite bothering the mainstream but to those in the know they are very big deal indeed.

It is almost a shame that tonight Fu Manchu are playing an “album show.” They are here tonight to play their 1997 “The Action Is Go” record in full. A fine album, of course – The Fu’s just don’t do inferior stuff – but the format is just a little restrictive. Helmet did it earlier in the year, and the idea is very much in vogue, but it is not something that RTM is overly keen on.

But nonetheless, once “Evil Eye” starts up all that is forgotten and you are indulging in a desert rock masterclass. The title track is forcibly delivered with it’s “Like I said” refrain really hits home before the mid-paced “Burning Road” provides us some light and shade.

Saturn III is a sprawling epic, but Fu’s real quality is that no one quite marries up their twin guitar rffing – the duelling between Hill and Bob Balch is really spectacular – with their mastery of the chorus. And when that’s matched up with Scott Reeder’s drumming and Brad Davis’ bass, you are into something very special indeed.

Album over, the band are back for encore of “Mongoose,” perhaps their catchiest tune,  before ending with “King Of The Road.

Anyone who saw this knows it was excellent – just imagine how magnificent Fu Manchu would be if they weren’t ever so slightly hamstrung by their own setlist and could really cut loose.

 

MARILLION @ CIVIC HALL, WOLVERHAMPTON 13/9/12

“Some bands walk out on stage to apathy,” says Marillion frontman Steve Hogarth towards the end of his bands mammoth two-hour twenty minute set. “Some bands, if they are lucky, walk out to adulation,” he continues. “But us? We walk out to affection, and that is worth more than anything.”

And so the ethos of this gig – and indeed this band is summed up. Ok, Hogarth might be neglecting the standing ovation that greeted the band after the first five songs tonight, but you can see his point.

Marillion are at the point that very few bands get to. They simply have nothing to prove to anyone, and they are supremely confident in both their abilities and also in their audience. How else do you explain the fact they can cheerfully begin the gig with a 17-minute track that isn’t even out yet. And moreover, they sound brilliant in doing so.

That is exactly what happens as they play “Gaza” the epic opener from magnificent new album “Sounds That Can’t Be Made” before playing “Your Gone” and the companion pieces from “Marbles” “This Town,” “The Rakes Progress” and “100 Nights” all before the aforementioned reception.

They are, however, only just getting started. In total four new songs from the new album – including the title track - are aired, but they are for digesting later as there are plenty of familiar tracks to get stuck into. Like a stunning “Neverland,” a passionate “Real Tears For Sale” and a golden oldie in “The Great Escape.”

Perhaps Marillion’s real strength lies in how understated their power is. Guitar man Steve Rothery just calmly stands there driving the whole thing forward with his fine playing, which is complimented in great style by the rest of the band.

It is left the naturally extrovert Hogarth to provide the spectacle. He does not disappoint. A frontman in the classic mould, he is equally at home criticising US Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (”the antichrist takes many forms,”) dedicating a song to a couple celebrating a wedding anniversary, playing many different instruments, singing and changing costumes. All of which he does tonight with aplomb.

There are two encores – the first sees a haunting and epic “A Few Words For The Dead” before they return again for a sing-a-long of “Sugar Mice.” On this form Marillion – who have long been perhaps the biggest cult band in the UK - are unstoppable and deserve both adulation and affection. This was, quite frankly, absolutely flawless.

I AM GIANT, Captain Horizon, Twisted Species, Third Angle Projection @Roadhouse Birmingham 12/9/12

When you are three-piece and your singer has blonde hair and you write songs that would – in 1993 – have had the word “grunge” attached to them, you probably are inviting comparisons to Nirvana.  It happens with the likes of Zico Chain and it is probably something that Third Angle Projection are going to have to deal with as they move forward in their careers. There is, though, enough potential in songs like current single “Useless” to think the band could rise above all that.

The bass player might be wearing a Pennywise t-shirt but everything about Telford’s Twisted Species is straight ahead hard rock rather than punk. Not that there is anything wrong with that, though, and there is nothing wrong with the four-piece. “Hold Me Down” and “Here I Stand” are straight out of the US-Radio play handbook. The band’s thinking is probably best shown in their choice of cover, Black Stone Cherry’s “White Trash Millionaire,” they only get to play 25 minutes but last track “Slip Away” is a highlight.

Captain Horizon, as RTM has said before, are pound for pound, perhaps the best unsigned band in Brum. Certainly live shows such as this seem to be getting better and better for the boys.

Best described, if you will, as a type of alt-rock Pink Floyd, they have taken to weaving giant songs full of hooks and choruses to tempt us all. Previous single “Angels and Vampires” was a giant leap forward and is played here along with “Here I Stand.” All of which bodes well for the release of their new album “The Lights Of Distorted Science” which is out in December.

Although based in London, three quarters of I Am Giant are from New Zealand, where by all accounts, they are more popular than the Rugby Union. Their album “The Horrifying Truth” has gone gold in their homeland and they are fresh from supporting Slash in Australia.

Now it seems they are ready for a crack at the UK, “….Truth” is coming out in October and this is the first night of a fairly extensive tour. There is a fairly sparse turnout in truth. But if IAG are upset they don’t show it – at least outwardly.

On record the sound perhaps a late 90s one – think Feeder circa “Polythene,” you know, before they went awful – but live things are taken up a notch, with opener “Purple Heart” setting the tone and being much heavier in the live arena. So much so they are almost Muse-like in approach.

Their 45 minute set sticks pretty steadfastly to the album for songs, but “Living The Crash” benefits from soaring vocals for Ed Martin (the only Englishman in  the band). Closing with the two tracks that made them household names down under “Neon Sunrise” and the number one track “City Limits” there is no encore – indeed drummer Shelton Wellright is dismantling his kit before the last chords are played.

I Am Giant make songs with bigger venues than this in mind. It will be interesting to see if they play them in the UK, but this was a promising start.