THERAPY? Hawk Eyes @Academy 2, Birmingham 23/11/12

When last we saw Hawk Eyes it was the Ginger Christmas show last year. We said the Leeds band were “blessed with a couple of very fine songs indeed.” We stick by that theory, but for whatever reason they choose not play them this evening.

Indeed, to be frank, Hawk Eyes look bored to be on stage. Whether it’s a first night of the tour thing, or that the crowd appears indifferent to them, who knows. The fact is though that most of the excitement seems to have gone from their show.

As you might expect from a band that changed its name, the band appear to not be quite sure what they want to be. “Headstrong” is the pick of the set, but it never approaches the levels they managed 11 months ago.

In contrast to see the seemingly restless support band, Therapy? Have always known exactly what they wanted to be, and it wasn’t famous. Their Wiki page says they have sold 2 million records, but it doesn’t say that most of these were in the 90s, with the “Troublegum” “Nurse” and “Infernal Love” records they were frequently in the singles charts and frequently in the magazines. The trouble with this was simple. Andy Cairns and his mates had artier ambitions; they simply wanted to play the music they liked. And, for most of the 21^st century, that’s exactly what they have done.

Happily, although the limelight has dimmed, the fans remain onside and the Academy 2 is near full when the band almost sheepishly make their way onstage. Dressed in suits, they look for all the world like the cast of “Reservoir Dogs” when a cover of Joy Dvision’s “Isolation” kicks things off.

The early curfew means a slightly shorter set, but no one can feel shortchanged as over 20 songs are fired out in a 90-minute concert. New album “A Brief Crack Of Light” is well represented with its brooding opener “Living In The Shadow Of A Terrible Thing” perhaps the closest thing they have to their 90s sound.

They have lost none of their mischievous nature, either. “Die Laughing” is dedicated to the recently deceased Clive Dunn and “Before You, With You, After You” beginning with a snippet of “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden.”

Along with the batch of new songs there is plenty of looking back, too. “Stop It Your Killing Me” “Teethgrinder” and “Stories” sound as fresh as ever despite being almost 20 years old.

Suits are gone for the encore and the classics are out. “Screamager” and “Nowhere” mix alongside a cover of “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Potato Junkie” finishes things, surely the only song in history to feature “James Joyce is fucking my sister” as its key line. And guess what? That’s the line Therapy choose to make a sing-a-long out of. What else should you expect from a band that appeared on Top of the Pops with a single that began with the couplet “let me try on your dress/it turns me on when we’re a mess. “?

They don’t play that song – “Loose” - tonight, but what they did play was excellent. Truly reinvigorated Therapy? Are a band that haven’t sounded this good in years. Being a deliberate cult band never sounded so much fun.

EUROPE @Academy Birmingham 21/11/12

If the cancellation of tonight’s support band Stonerider at late notice – so late in fact that earlier in the evening they posted a picture of the venue on Twitter – was an early blow (as RTM had been looking forward to the brand of Black Crowes-y rock) then the crowd at the venue was another one.

There are barely 600 people in the venue when Europe take the stage at just before 9pm. A tremendous shame as the band deserves so much better. These shows at the Academy have been very much a fixture in recent years, and they have been uniformly superb. 2012’s promises to be just the same, as the band have a new album out that they are keen to show off.

Indeed, it is with three songs from the aforementioned “Bag Of Bones” LP that they begin this evening, “Riches To Rags” and “Not Supposed To Sing The Blues” in particular showcasing all that is good about present day Europe with their casual catchiness and easy charm.

They then play “Superstitious,” a song that the teenage RTM played to death before deciding Europe weren’t cool enough as the 90s dawned, at this point we are left to reflect on the fact that things really have turned full-circle.

Even the short acoustic section is redeemed by two things. First Jon Norum plays a superb bluesy guitar solo that leads into a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The World Keep On Turning” and second, there is the fact that with the cymbals attached to his feet drummer Ian Haugland resembles a one-man-band.

Stools happily away it’s rocking all the way to the end. The new album’s title track sounds fantastic, and if you can’t enjoy “The Beast” from the “Last Look At Eden” CD (the album that reminded the world – and me – just how damn good Europe were) then you aren’t trying very hard.

The main set closes with the fist-in-the-air classic that is “Rock The Night” – although not before a faithful cover of “Paranoid” that frontman Joey Tempest describes as “bostin’”- before its back for the encore of “Last Look….” And that song. You know the one. The most bombastic thing in the world, the one that nearly all power metal bands would kill for – and the one that paid for the enormous tour bus that sits outside. And you know what? Try listening to “The Final Countdown” without a smile on your face. It is nigh on impossible, as anthems go, it remains the benchmark.

So another Europe gig ends in triumph and enjoyment. Yes the crowd might not be massive, but do you think that bothered Joey and the boys? Not if their smiles when RTM sees them getting into a taxi outside are anything to go by. We didn’t ask them where they were going.

It is obvious. They were heading for venus…..

SEETHER, Heaven's Basement @Institute Birmingham 18/11/12

RTM has a confession. Up until about a month ago we hadn’t heard of Seether. It seems that, with this lack of knowledge of the South African act, we are in a minority. This show was originally supposed to be at the Academy 2, but was upgraded to the much larger Institute, where it is almost sold-out.

 So, if we didn’t know about Seether, then why are we here? The answer to that lies in the choice of support band. Heaven’s Basement are a band that we have had a lot of time for and have had for a long time. Their history is complicated and long, first they Hurricane Party  - attracting A&R man extraordinaire John Kalodner to their first EP - then they were Roadstar, before becoming HB in 2008 after a split with manager Laurie Mansworth (who now looks after The Treatment).

Throughout all that time they have made fabulous hard rock records. Last years “Unbreakable” EP showing that again, and given the amount of time they spend on the road they have no problems winning another crowd over tonight. Singer Aaron Buchanan has only been in the band for a year but looks born to the role, with his effortless charm and seemingly boundless energy. They (finally) have a debut album out next year and the track they play from this “There Is Else Left To Lose” gives notice that it might be very good, but as always it is “Reign On My Parade” and “Executioners Day” that steal the show. Job – as always – done.

Seether, rather quietly, have become a very big deal it seems. Given the size of the crowd and the sense of expectation you might have expected a show to rival the Down one in this very room last month, that it never reaches any of those heights is entirely due to the band themselves.

The three piece have some good songs, witness the dark and brooding opener “No Jesus Christ” and the fine slab of American arena rock that is “Here and Now” for example. But to be brutally honest, they have absolutely no charisma at all.

Whilst it would be dull if every band behaved like Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie or Kiss, it wouldn’t have killed the group to involve the crowd at some point, instead singer Shaun Cooper is content to mumble “thank you” after each song and leave the gaps drenched in feedback.

Perhaps we should have expected such a low-key show. The opening told us as much. There was no backdrop, for example, and no intro music. Which is fine up to a point, but they were here headlining to 1400 people and it needed a spectacle to go with their undoubted talent.

“Country Song” could have been turned into a sing-a-long and the insanely catchy “Fake It” could have been a showstopper, but it wasn’t. Cooper singing “The Gift”solo was just dull, before the show ended with “Remedy” (which is a dead ringer for Nevermind era Nirvana) and no encore – that would have been too much like showbusiness.

 

Seether are a band who is good at what they do – essentially write grunge songs for the 21^st century - but they have none of Heaven’s Basement’s presence. Tonight only felt like a metal show when the support was onstage.

GERRY McAVOY'S BAND OF FRIENDS, Sugar Mama @Bilston Robin 2 16/11/12

Tonight had better be good. It better be good, because RTM is missing the mighty Gentlemen’s Pistols at the Asylum for it.

 If you will permit a slightly personal digression, that we are doing to this show at all is a long story, but one that revolves around the fact our partner in gig going crime for 20 odd years is the world’s biggest Rory Gallagher fan, so RTM is forsaking one of our favourite bands to see a tribute act……

Actually that is little disingenuous. This is not your average tribute act. This celebration of the work of Rory Gallagher (the man who Jimi Hendrix considered the world’s greatest guitarist) contains two of the men who were by his side in the 70s – bass man Gerry McAvoy and drummer Ted McKenna – together with Dutch bluesman Marcel Scherpenzneel. Viewed in that respect this Band of Friends is no more of a tribute than the current line up of Thin Lizzy, say.

Before the Rory stuff there are Sugar Mama. Impossibly young they might be, but this local band have some very fine blues chops. Single “Bullfight Blues” is a fine song and their set is an entertaining one, even if it is slightly marred by singer/guitarist Sam Anderson having tuning problems with his guitar.

This is a minor problem though – and one they will iron out with more shows such as this. Sugar Mama are a band with potential.

So it is then, that about 9.20 Gerry McAvoy and his mates stroll out onto the Bilston stage. Early portents are not good. He sidles up to the mic, goes to say hello and the thing collapses. What follows are 30 seconds of pure slapstick as he tries and fails to make said stand behave, but if that sets us laughing, what follows makes sure the smiles don’t leave for the next two hours.

The evening kicks off with “Last of The Independents” and from there becomes possibly the finest celebration of blues music that could be imagined. “Lets Go To Work” follows quickly as does “Calling Card” with its funky bass. “Bad Penny” is a revelation and “Follow Me” has lost none of its appeal despite being over 30 years old and really, if you can’t enjoy Shadow Play” you aren’t trying.

Although the band as a whole is flawless, it really is Scherpenzneel who deserves most plaudits. He is quite stunning in the “Rory” role, and his guitar duel with special guest Gwyn Ashton is jaw-dropping.

It is a real shame when “Bullfrog Blues” brings the curtain down, as this had been one of the great life-affirming gigs of 2012. Not a gig, as such, it was exactly as promised, a band of friends enjoying themselves -  and it was unexpectedly brilliant.

Gentlemen’s who?

REVOKER, Sacred Mother Tongue @Birmingham Acdemy 3 13/11/12

The last time Rocking The Midlands saw Revoker, it was the first date (I think) on the first UK tour. They were meant to support Holy Grail but somehow got bumped up to headliner. The crowd – which wasn’t massive to begin with – drifted off after HG (who were fantastic) and Revoker were left to play to about 20 people – doing so extremely well.

Fast forward 18 months and they are back, this time as the bonefide headline act. Worryingly, despite their debut album “Revenge For The Ruthless” being a fine affair, there is, yet again, hardly anyone here to watch.

Sacred Mother Tongue seem to find this quite funny, all things considered. Man mountain singer Darrin South exalts an audience member with a tremendous Afro to come forward, for example.

That they can behave in this way betrays the fact they have great confidence right now. Signed to EMI and with a killer new EP “A Light Shines” in the bag, they really have come on leaps and bounds since we last saw them – three years ago at the Hellfire Fest.

Their trump card is guitarist Andy James, who’s intricate playing underpins most of their songs, early songs like “The City Is Crying” benefit from being road tested and new ones like “Bleeding Out” and current single, the massive sounding “Evolve/Become,” are superb. If you saw this band a few years ago and thought they might not make it, then its time to think again, as the tongue could be the name on everyone’s lips in 2013.

The lack of numbers for Revoker is surprising. If this was a US band the press would be all over such catchy songs built around massive choruses and groove metal type riffs. But these boys are not from New York, but the Welsh valleys and sometimes we would rather look out than in it seems.

The likes of “Stay Down” with its “another Saturday night in my home town” refrain, pack a fine punch, as does “The Great Pretender.” Their finest moment, though, surely is “Psychoville” with its giant hook, designed to worm its way into the brain and not leave.

Revoker are set to release album number two next year and debut a song called “Killing House” from it, although from the same ballpark as “Revenge….” It does hit at a slightly heavier – and dare we say it – a more grown up sound.

A cover of AC/DC’s “TNT” is played, before Motorpsycho” ends things. It has been a fine evening, showcasing amply two bands who prove that metals next generation is alive and kicking in the UK. Both bands could probably benefit from the right support tour next year to propel them to the next level in 2013 as both have potential – and the ambition – to sell out much bigger venues than this.

Go and see them next time – when they are both big you will claim you were there anyway!

GOJIRA, Trepalium @Wolverhampton Slade Rooms 12/11/12

France’s Trepalium are looking uncomfortable on the tiny Slade Rooms stage. Not their performance, you understand, which was a superb display of thrash and death metal, with touch of jazz thrown in. It is just that they have a massive drum kit and the five of them look ready to fall off the edge at a moments notice.

Thankfully, no one does go arse over tit and we are left to enjoy the show. RTM wasn’t familiar with the band previously, but they were extremely impressive. “Sick Murder Boogie” is aptly named, and if their finishing song is called “Usual Crap,” the group themselves are anything but. They offer something original and exciting.

As do their countrymen Gojira. They are really riding on the crest of a wave at the moment. This is their biggest UK tour to date and this year’s “L’Enfant Savauge” album is quite marvelous. In addition their show earlier in the year at the Academy was one of the gigs of 2012. This one doesn’t quite match that, but it was pretty damn close.

It is with “Explosia,” a track from “L’Enfant….” That they begin, and in common with all their songs, it seems it is built around a gigantic riff from Joel Duplantier and the driving rhythm of his brother Mario on drums. The band headbang their way through it and it is a jaw-dropping opener.

Like the set in June this is a career spanning affair, rather than focusing on one album, and soon they are attacking “Flying Whales” like their lives depended on it. 2008’s album “The Way Of All Flesh” is well represented – “Oroborus” sounding particularly impressive - while “Toxic Garbage Island” is perhaps the best song ever written about environmental issues.

The fact that Gojira choose to write songs about the planet rather war like some of their extreme metal contemporaries neatly sums them up. They are a serious rather than good-time group. This is exemplified by their attitude to the crowd surfer who nearly hurts himself near the end. Where bands like Down encourage such behaviour, Duplantier tells the crowd not to do it before he gets his head down to get on with his job.

The set ends with “Vacuity” before an encore of “The Gift Of Guilt” brings things to a brutal close. At that point you are left to reflect on how Gojira have done this in an old school way.

Coming from France – hardly a metal hotbed – must have been a disadvantage, but through a string of great albums and the hard work of touring with everyone they can, they can headline 10 shows in Britain and nearly sell them out – and do that twice in a year. But then quality usually rises to the top and Gojira are one of the best bands in extreme metal right now.

COHEED AND CAMBRIA, Fighting With Wire, Birmingham Academy 11/11/12

Fighting With Wire being the support tonight is a real unexpected bonus. The Derry band were the opening act for the Helmet gig back in August, but RTM couldn’t get there in time. They were then meant to be back in June but that show got cancelled because of the England football match with Sweden.

There is a real sense, then – as far as we are concerned at least - third time lucky tonight. Happily, the band do not disappoint. Comparisons with bands such as Joyrider, Therapy? and Wilt might initially seem lazy and based solely on nationality, but not so, it is because that is what FWW actually do sound like, for proof see title track of album number two “Colonel Blood,” new single ”Didn’t Wanna Come Back Home” sounds like the Foo Fighters at their best and mixes superbly with material from their debut “Man Vs Monster” opus. Fighting With Wire didn’t have to work hard to win friends tonight.

Tonight’s Coheed and Cambria show is being billed as a “Special Acoustic and Electric Show." In practice this means the New York Prog Metallers are playing a short acoustic set before they play their main show. The time they spend on stage doing that is not bad and “Pearl Of The Stars” sounds excellent in this setting, while “Wake Up” is turned into a real singalong, but actually, the fact that this bit came around 20 minutes after Fighting With Wire and that there is another break of 20 minutes afterwards gives the evening a bit of a stop-start feel.

When the electric stuff begins, though, it is mind-blowingly good. Main man Claudio Sanchez has – literally – let his hair down for this (it had been tied back during the acoustic portion) and the crowd goes ballistic for opener “No World For Tomorrow.” “Gravemakers and Gunslingers” follows and, with its solo to start, it gives the impression of a song that is bursting to rock.

Sanchez, in particular, is clearly loving things. Shooting the crowd a-la Steve Harris at the end of “Everything Evil” and whilst he falls over after mistiming a jump into Josh Eppard’s drums (dismantling the kit in the process) that is the only thing he does wrong tonight.

New album “The Afterman: The Ascension” is represented with three songs including the title track and “Goodnight Fair Lady” but if there is a quibble a couple more new tracks would have been nice. That said, the second part of the album is due next year, so perhaps they will flesh this part of the careers out a little more?

Such questions are for another day, though, because for 80 minutes Coheed were incredible. These are heady times for the proggy side of metal, and really if Rush were in front of us tonight, they wouldn’t have been better than this. Coheed and Cambria were that good.

ABSOLVA, Dakesis @Asylum 2, Birmingham 10/11/12

Fair play to Darkesis. In an age where bands have to work hard to get noticed, the Brummie power metallers are on their second gig of the day.

It has been a while since we saw them play an ill-fated show at The Roadhouse last year when the antics of Pagan’s Mind ruined it for everyone, and my how they have improved!

“Liar” has Maiden overtones, while “On Wings Of Steel” and old favourite “Valhalla” tick all the Power Metal boxes. Theirs is a set of great confidence. It is also their final gig of 2012, with the band set to disappear to make a new record, which – if this is anything to go by – might be a bit special.

So what of Absolva? Half of the band used to be in RTM faves Fury UK, with guitarist/singer Chris Appleton and drummer Martin McNee forming the new group after Appleton’s bother, Luke accepted the offer of joining Iced Earth. That does not mean, however, that they are merely Fury UK Two.

You see, completing the group are not only local lad bass player Dan Bate, once of Point Blank Fury, but also crucially a second guitarist in Tom Atkinson, this means that while Fury were all about Appleton’s playing, Absolva are able to move into a more classic rock area. This is particularly evident on “It Is What It Is,” which has a solo that Thin Lizzy would be proud of.

Elsewhere, “Flames of Justice”- which is the title track of the bands debut album - is a strident and in your face opener, while current single “Code Red” is an immediately memorable track and if “Free” is their most Fury UK-alike moment, then the new band has enabled them to explore other areas, “From Beyond The Light” is a very decent stab at thrash metal, and “Only When Its Over” is Appleton exploring the power ballad.

The hour long set sees Absolva play their album (although not in order) and tellingly no Fury UK songs are aired. This means that songs like the magnificent “Death By Lightening” have been put away for now, but it is a decision to be welcomed. This is a band that is looking forward to a future that deserves to be bright, and one that has a fresh sound.

RTM saw them at Bloodstock, but even in a few months giant strides have been made. Give it a year and – with the constant touring you know the band will do – Absolva will be even better. Their potential is frightening because tonight was a magnificent start.

ANGEL WITCH, Enforcer, Age Of Taurus @Institute Library 9/11/12

It must be hard for Angel Witch. In 1980 they were contemporaries – and genuine rivals of – Iron Maiden. Their self-titled debut album was better received than Maiden’s too.

Then they disappeared. Aborted attempts at comebacks saw three albums released in over 20 years before they drafted in guitarist extraordinaire, Bill Steer and released “As Above, So Below” in 2012.The sad truth is, though, that however good “As Above…” is the gig going public hasn’t caught on and there are barely 60 people in attendance tonight.

Indeed there are considerably less than this when London’s Age of Taurus hit the stage to bring the so-called “Live Evil Tour” to an opening. All of which is a tremendous shame as quite frankly the band are brilliant.

Displaying the type of stoner rock grooves to put them in the Orange Goblin bracket, Taurus’s is a stunningly powerful sound. Songs like “Desperate Souls Of Tortured Times,” “Sinking City” and set closer “The Bull And The Bear” are all built on huge riffs and are all uniformly excellent. Their debut album is out next year and we urge you to check them out.

Set against this power, Sweden’s Enforcer are, well, a little bit weedy. No matter, though as the Earache signed band are not here to compete, merely to have a good time with their NWOBHM style grooves. By no means a joke like the godawful shit of Steel Panther, but the likes of “Midnight Bite” aren’t to be taken too seriously either. The title track of most recent album “Diamonds” and best song “Katana” remind us that heavy metal can be about fun too.

That Angel Witch chose to begin with new song “Dead Sea Scrolls” is telling. They are not here to indulge in mere history, they still have something relevant to say. Now with just one original member (singer/guitarist Kevin Heybourne) in the ranks, they clearly want to look to the future.

There is, though, a heavy bias towards the debut album in the 75 minute set and when songs like “White Witch” and “Atlantis” are being played you really do get a sense of how special and revered that this band could – and perhaps should – have been.

The addition of Steer to the 2012 version is masterstroke. He has proved with Firewind and Gentlemen’s Pistols that he has a gift for 70s sounding metal and so it proves again. It would be easy perhaps for the band to go through the motions given the lack of crowd and some bitterness at the way their career has gone, but not a bit of it. Instead they give a fine performance.

If the one thing it lacked was some real connection between the stage and the crowd even that is redeemed by the end as the song gave the group its name is delightedly chanted around the room.

Angel Witch might have missed the boat in terms of making themselves household names, but it looks like they are happy enough in the role of NWOBHM metal’s largely unheralded gem.

EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS, Guitar Gangsters, New Killer Shoes @Roadhouse Birmingham 8/11/12

New Killer Shoes have given themselves quite a profile in recent months, as they have gigged incessantly around the Midlands. They get the chance to show their talents again tonight, but find themselves a man down with second guitarist Ben Smith missing.

The Redditch band describe themselves as “grit pop” but to us it sounds a little like the Buzzcocks, which isn’t a bad thing. “Lets Go Disco” is a catchy number as is “Snake Of The Charm.” They are a band who is standing on the very verge of their big break as they go on a European Tour with Brad in the early part of 2013. We will see them – hopefully back at full strength - on that jaunt.

Guitar Gangsters are another band we have never come across either. The three piece band from London claim that the last time they played in these parts was back in 1988, but their brand of punk belongs to an ear perhaps 10 years before that.

Singer Pete Ley – who looks like Billy Bragg – and his brother Phil – a dead ringer for The Fast Show’s Swiss Tony – have been in the band since its inception and their camaraderie shines through songs like “Guitar Shakedown, “ “Guitars, Bars And Getaway Cars” and “Class of 76.” “Everybody” is an attack on the Facebook generation and new song “Aftershow” is a jaunty affair. An extremely entertaining 40 minutes, if you like the Clash then check these Gangsters out.

In many ways the fact RTM is even here tonight is down to our love of The Almighty. Back in 1994 on the “Wrench” single there was a song called “Do Anything You Want to Do.” The 19-year old RTM didn’t have a clue about Eddie, or indeed his Hotrods, but we knew a great song when we heard it and investigated.

Well, the aforementioned tune is knocked out with casual ease about two thirds into the set tonight, and for us is the highlight, seeing as we’ve waited nearly 20 years to see it live. What we didn’t expect, however, was just how good the rest of the set was. “Get Across To You” and “Why Should I Care Anymore” sound as fresh as they would have 30 years ago and the old punks who largely make up this audience lap it up.

The Hotrods, though, were – like Dr Feelgood – never a punk band in the conventional sense, as they prove with the trio of covers they choose to end things with tonight. Mott The Hoople’s “Once Bitten Twice Shy,” “Gloria” by Van Morrison and “Born To Be Wild” might seem an odd choice, but they work well.

Really this was pub rock at its absolute finest. Eddie and the boys support the Quo this Christmas and, if they are as good as this, they will be fine way to start that bill off too.

JACK WHITE, Willy Moon @Academy Birmingham 7/11/12

Sometimes, you feel a bit out of the loop. Take the fella who races up to RTM before this gig and excitedly says: “I can’t believe Willy Moon is supporting tonight.”

RTM’s blank look alerts him to the fact we have never heard of Mr. Moon so he almost pleads with us: “Willy Moon!” he exclaims. ”He was amazing on Jools Holland…? The iPod advert song….?” To extricate myself from this conversation – which took place in the toilets of the Academy (not a place any bloke should chat in) I say “yeah, never heard of him, mate. Still I will check him out. Have a good one.”

Such is the way when popular culture and RTM mixes, but here we are, on the back of the fact we liked the White Stripes (a lot actually) and like Jack White’s solo effort “Blunderbuss” from earlier in the year. To get there however, we have to watch the aforementioned Moon and his band.

Amazingly, we do recognise his first song. It is a cover of “I’m Shakin’” but that is it really. He has a lady on guitar, another on drums and a chap on what he describes as “the ones and twos” (a mixer to you and me) and to be fair to him he isn’t too bad in a Beck type of way. He does the iPod song (called “Yeah Yeah” according to wiki) and is ok, although frankly we can’t see why we would ever see him again.

There is an inordinate delay before Jack White and his band hit the stage. Initially it did look like it might be an exercise in style over substance as the stage is covered in white sheeting and roadies, dressed in sharp suits, have asked us not to take pictures. But in fairness once White is in front of us, it is very much a conventional rock and roll show.

White does appear stuck in a halfway house. Now a slow artist, he plays more White Stripes songs in his 90 minute set than solo songs. Indeed, proceedings kick off with one of them in “Black Math.” That is followed by a trio of “Blunderbuss” tunes, with “Missing Pieces” the pick, before a rollicking “Hotel Yorba” takes things up a notch.

The singer does seem to be enjoying himself, though, playing guitar with gusto and also keyboards and piano on more than one occasion and you can’t help but reflect that in years gone by he might have been a wizened old bluesman – a fact he seems to acknowledge by playing “You Know That I Know,” an old Hank Williams song he re-worked for a project.

The encore brings with it a raft more White Stripes songs, with “Hardest Button To Button” and “You Got In Your Pocket” amongst them, before that riff for “Seven Nation Army” brings things to a close.

Largely it was an interesting show, and White is a compelling live performer, but one who, you sense, is still trying to decide what he wants this part of his career to be.

NIGHTWISH, Pain @Academy Birmingham 6/11/12

You know all those great Scandinavian bands you have in your collection? The likes of Sabaton, Amon Amarth, Dimmu, Children of Bodom? The chances are that they have albums produced by Peter Tagtgren.

Well, in addition to being a producer extraordinaire, Tagtgren fronts his own band, Pain, and a very interesting proposition they are too. Difficult to classify, they are – if such a genre existed – a symphonic power industrial metal band. The White Zombie-esque stomp of “Dirty Women” is perhaps their most immediate number, with the disco stylings of “On And On” and set closer “Shut Your Mouth” displaying a confident swagger that wins the huge crowd over.

Nightwish, as is evidenced by the sold out signs outside are a seriously big deal. That they have done all this despite losing a vocalist on October 1^st says much for their consummate skill.

Annette Olzon left the band barely a month ago, but rather than cancel shows as many bands would, instead they drafted in former After Forever singer Floor Jansen and on the evidence of her quite magnificent show this evening they made the right choice.

Jansen, dressed strikingly in red, is very much the focal point of the group, sharing talking to the audience duties with Marco Hietala and is seemingly comfortable in her role, grinning throughout.

The band are here on the back of the quite brilliant “Imaginaerum” record, a fine opus that takes in many styles and in microcosm it encapsulates the ethos of the live show. There are very few metal bands – and make no mistake this is very much a metal show – who could headbang their way through set opener “Storytime” and “Dark Chest Of Wonder” and then ease themselves into the jazz of “Slow, Love, Slow” without batting an eyelid.

The show is built on the intricate guitar work of Emppu Vuorinen, as much as the vocals of Jansen and Hietala – their interplay at its peak during “Ghost River” - but comes into its own with “I Want My Tears Back” with its echoes of Iron Maiden, and as if to emphasise the eclectic nature of the near two hour show, one minute it is “Ever Dream” and some tremendous double kick drumming, while the next, Englishman Troy Donockley is adding a folky bent to proceedings.

The result, by the time “Last Ride Of The Day” closes things is a frequently bewildering, but always brilliant show. It is also one which, given the circumstances, is perhaps an even bigger triumph than might have been expected. This was truly memorable and we couldn’t have wished for more than that.

MOTORHEAD, Anthrax @Wolverhampton Civic Hall 5/11/12

Say what you like about Motorhead, but you can’t accuse them of playing safe when it comes to support acts. In recent years these Autumn jaunts have seen bands of the calibre of Saxon, Michael Monroe and The Damned open up, however this year Lemmy and the lads have given themselves perhaps their biggest challenge yet.

Anthrax – yes that’s Anthrax – you know, one of the Big Four thrash bands, one of the best metal bands in the world, and one who lets be honest about this, is having something of a renaissance, are going to come out right before the old stagers tonight.

RTM saw the New Yorker’s stunning show in Oxford in March, thus hopes were high for this slot at a venue that seems to lend itself to magnificent concerts. However large expectations were, though, they don’t quite prepare us for what actually did take place.

Quite simply, Anthrax were, this evening, unstoppable. The setlist they chose for their 50-minute jaunt? How about one that starts with “Caught In A Mosh” then moves into “Fight Em Till You Can’t,” takes in “Indians,”  “Time” and a few other classics before tearing Wolves to pieces with “I Am The Law”? Not too shabby huh? In short, Anthrax were phenomenal and they – and moreover the assembled gathering – know it.

In fact, so good were Scott Ian and his mates, that even a Motorhead that was seriously on top of its game would have struggled to live with them. The fact is that on this particular evening Motorhead were not as good as ever.

That is not to say they were bad by any means, merely that this is the first date of the tour and it is clear that there are some teething problems to iron out.

It starts well enough “No Regrets,” “Damage Case” and “I Know How To Die” would grace any show, but some essential spark is missing. The synchronised dancing of “Metropolis” and a rollicking “One Night Stand” are fantastic as always, but there is a rather tetchy undercurrent throughout. Things come to a head in Mickey Dee’s drum solo during “One To Sing The Blues.” The sticksman had been upset with his kit at the start of the song, and at the end of it he leaps off his stool and argues with his technician.

The encore is another rather odd affair, the band play “Orgasmatron” bathed in green light before the usual strobe filled ending in “Bomber” although pointedly and perhaps in keeping with a rather low-key beginning, there is no making the balcony stand for this track this time, as has been the case in previous years.

So, what to make of this evening? Well Motorhead are and will always remain one of the greatest bands this country has produced. It was just that this evening saw one band give a slightly off colour show, while another absolutely ripped the place apart.

SABATON, Eluveitie @Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall, 2/11/12

Switzerland’s Eluveitie seem at first to be on a mission to cram the most amount of people in a band. There appears to eight of them on stage, including flute players, a violinist and somebody playing the bagpipes.

As might be expected given the breadth of instrumentation on show, their sound is in eclectic mix of metal and folk and they are an interesting proposition. “Rose For Epona” and “Havoc” have plenty of twists and turns and their 45 minute set has much to commend it. Although RTM can’t help feeling that the bagpipe should be kept apart from metal at all times.

Things outwardly might look good in the Sabaton camp. New album “Carolus Rex” has continued their run of fine records and the show is at a bigger venue than when they last appeared on these shores a couple of years ago, but the truth is that it has been far from plain sailing for the group.

In April a new line-up was announced, with four members leaving and three new ones being drafted in. However , if there was a touch of trepidation about whether the band would be as good live as they ever were, we are happy to say those fears were totally unfounded.

Kicking off with “Ghost Division,” it is immediately clear that this is a band that is on top form. Frontman Joakim Broden is taking an even more prominent role these days, and it is a role that naturally gregarious singer is comfortable with, effortlessly getting the crowd onside from the off.

The band are evidently proud of their new record, with five “…Rex” songs being aired. “Got Mit Us” and “Poltava” being perhaps the pick. There are, however, a smattering of old songs – and with a reasonably novel idea, the crowd is allowed to choose some of them, by virtue of which gets the biggest cheer. On another occasion Broden spots someone he has seen before in the crowd and lets him decide, said fan is wrong as he plumps for a song other than the stunning “Uprising,” but never mind.

The fun continues with the encore. After “The Art of War” and “Primo Victoria” there is “Metal Crue” a cheesy homage to the bands of Broden’s youth.

The band seem genuinely pleased at their reception and thank the fans for giving the new incarnation of the band a chance. There really is no need. A band who is this good live deserves to be cut some slack over a few line-up changes. Really and truly, songs about war, death and destruction never sounded so good. 

EVERY TIME I DIE, Stray From The Path @ Slade Rooms Wolverhampton 30/10/12

Being as they are from Long Island, New York, you could perhaps forgive Stray From The Path for having other things on their mind this week. However, whatever Hurricane Sandy did, singer Drew York is more annoyed with the Wolverhampton crowd.

The five piece are, its fair to say, not having a good night. It doesn’t seem to matter what they do – and York in particular is trying his heart out – they get almost no response from the assembled gathering.

It’s an odd one because you would have thought songs like “Damien” and “Long History” would be lapped up by Every Time I Die’s crowd, but for whatever reason, this is one for the group to forget.

Whatever misgivings the fans had for Stray From The Path, they are long gone by the time ETID hit the stage. A hedonistic mix of metal, punk, great lyrics and stupid song titles, the New Yorkers have been doing this stuff for nearly 15 years. All to infrequent visitors to these shores, their arrival is eagerly anticipated.

The impressively bearded Keith Buckley is a vocalist of some skill and, with the band ringing the changes to the set tonight, he is exercising his pipes with “Apocalypse Now And Then” instead of “Kill The Music” which had started the shows on most of the other gigs this tour.

Its breathless tones are a very clear signal of intent, with the band keen to showcase their brilliant “Ex Lives” record from earlier this year. The magnificently titled “Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space” with its chorus of “I want to be dead with my friends” is an instant favourite.

Elsewhere it’s a veritable greatest hits of Every Time I Die, “The Marvelous Slut,” “Wanderlust,” “I Suck (Blood) and a quite stunning “The New Black” are obvious standouts, but really there is no complaints anywhere, before a breathless race to the end, with the trio of “Ebolarama,” “We’rewolf” and “Floater” closes things.

The band are onstage for little over an hour, but such is the energy and class of the songs the length barely matters. There is a slight suspicion that there is not a lot of light and shade in their songs, but if Every Time I Die are a one-trick pony, they are one that would win best in show…urmm…Every time they tried.