SAXON, The Quireboys @Wolverhampton Wulfrun 26/4/13

You know what you are going to get when you go and see Saxon. At 9pm they come on stage and they stay there. For a long time. A couple of songs in, a smiling Biff Byford tells you what you are getting: “close the bar, lock the doors,” he says. “No one leaves…”

A closed bar is not something you would associate with the Quireboys, indeed, even the teetotal RTM fancies a drink when you see the band. Just like the headliners you know exactly what you are going to see when their name is on the ticket. They shamble on with no fanfare whatsoever and for as long as they are there – 45 minutes in this case – they play some of our favourite rock n roll songs of the last twenty odd years.

The setlist is almost perfect for a support slot, kicking off with “Tramps and Thieves” they are soon playing a couple of songs off their brilliant debut album in “There She Goes Again” and “Misled.” Frontman Spike still remains resolutely cheerful despite breaking a toe a couple of days ago (an injury he claims he received playing football…..) “Mother Mary” a track they premiered last autumn when they toured, is aired again and we are told the new album out in the summer will herald a winter tour. They end things with “Seven O’clock” and you get the feeling that some people who haven’t seen the band for a while have remembered just how good the Qureboys are.

Maybe there is still time for the support to enjoy the same type of renaissance that the headliners have. In recent years the Saxon career gap has been very much on the up. A few fantastic records have resulted in the “sold out” signs going up all over the country wherever they play. Tonight is no different and the Wulfrun is packed by the time the title track of this year’s fine “Sacrifice” album kicks off the mammoth set.

Although six tracks are played from the new LP – including the magnificent ode to shipbuilding “Made In Belfast”-  this is very much a career spanning exercise. The title track of “Power And The Glory” is given an outing to celebrate its 30^th anniversary, before Biff allows the crowd to choose a track based – like the Wildhearts the other week – based on how load the crowd cheers, although whether “…And The Bands Played On” was ever not going to be played who actually knows?

The end of the gig, though is an excuse just play classic after classic, “747 Strangers In The Night” and “Wheels Of Steel” are about as good as it gets. The latter even induces a crowd surfer, which Byford surveys and says the band will carry on “after letting him get settled.”

The encore contains the fist-in-the-air classic “Denim And Leather” which still remains perhaps the greatest song about heavy metal ever written, but the whole two hours five minutes tell you everything about why Saxon, even after all this time, remain one of Britain’s best loved – and indeed just best full stop – rock bands.

A quite brilliant evening. 

CRASHDIET, Jettblack, Sleekstain, Hell In The Club @Birmingham Academy 2 25/4/13

The spectre of a tragic death of Crashdiet’s manager Michael Sunden looms large over this gig. He passed away just a few days before, after falling at a Saxon gig at Rock City. Credit to them for carrying on with the tour, no one could have criticised them if they had cancelled.

The other bands on the packed bill are no doubt grateful they adopted such a stoic attitude, not least of which is Italy’s Hell In The Club, who are making their first visit to these parts. Heavily influenced by the nothin’ but a good time attitude of the 80s, their song titles give the game away, amongst others there are “Another Saturday Night” and “Raise Your Drinking Glass” and they sound exactly as you would expect. Never going to change the world, but good fun all the same.

Next up on this veritable United Nations bill are French glam mob Sleekstain. We were familiar with the previous band, but not these boys, slightly harder edged, they almost echo Skid Row, while singer Ryff has a bit of a Dio thing going on. Their song titles too come straight out of glam rock 101, called “Hard Rain” and “Shoot” but like …Club they are derivative and unashamedly so.

The main UK interest on the bill come from Buckinghamshire triers Jettblack. We have a lot of time for them at RTM towers, and have seen them before, both under their current guise and when some of the group were in Skintruck opening for Airbourne at the old Academy3 years ago.

They stride out with the confidence of a band who, in “Raining Rock” has a good album number two out, and play “Two Hot Girls” by way of an opener, they also play the title track of debut effort “Get Your Hands Dirty.”

The power ballad “Prisoner of Love” sees them lose a little momentum, while there is a stab at “Paint It Black” before the epic and slightly silly (in a good way) “Raining Rock” bids us farewell. Job done again.

After what seems an inordinate time Crashdiet eventually begin their set 20 minutes late, but do so with “Change The World” the excellent lead track of new album, “The Savage Playground” which is superb, however, unfortunately it is downhill from there. Some of it is beyond their control – the bass sound is awful for example – but some of it is not. Last song in the set “Liquid Jesus” goes on and on, which in a 45 minute gig from a band of this type is pretty unnecessary. The encore of “Cocaine Cowboys” (which wins the award for song title of the night) is far better and revives the whole sunset strip feel of the evening.

Bands like this could be excused for feeling a little bitter. Twenty years ago they might have been stars, but these days, the best they can perhaps achieve is touring the world on package deals like this, and everyone tonight has a smile on their face – which really is all this music has ever been about.

It was a fitting tribute to Michael Sunden, and you cannot say fairer than that. 

AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, Turbowolf, The Coat Hangers @Wolves Slade Rooms 21/4/13

Now this is an odd one.

Always is when you come to a gig solely to see the support band and have only a vague knowledge of the group that is on the ticket. No matter, though, that’s the position that RTM finds itself in this evening.

Here because we absolutely love Turbowolf, we saw the headliners support the Foo Fighters about a decade ago and rather lost touch since, whatever else happens though, watching openers The Coat Hangers again will not high on our list of things to do.

It is a terrible name for a band, but one which, unfortunately matches their music. A female three piece, they are a new wave/punky affair, but one which to these ears is devoid of any tunes that we can find. They clearly do have ….Trail of Dead as fans, though, as bass man Autry Fullbright joins in on a couple of tracks – and the ladies clearly love the headliners too. Just not ones for us.

By contrast, Turbowolf very, very much are. Brilliant on record, but even better live, their half hour is a veritable tour de force. Essentially a collection of what appears to be collection of Bristol hippies they make a glorious racket that sounds like metal being played a weird synth over the top, topped off with the catchiest chorus’s you can think of. Except you can’t think of them, which is why Turbowolf exist.

Frontman Chris controls the whole thing expertly, and they reel off tracks from their astonishing debut record, like “Severed Heads,” “Rose For The Crows” and the incredible “Read and Write” with considerable aplomb.  They also find the time to unveil a new track “American Mirrors” which tells you that album number two is going to be a belter too. They finish off with “Lets Die!” and surely must have won themselves several hundred new fans. If you haven’t seen them make sure you do, as they quite amazing.

As RTM had shelled out our cash to see a band other than the headliners, we had already had our money’s worth by the time …Trail of Dead hit the stage about 15 minutes late. When we saw them with the Foos all those years ago we thought they were ok but not worth getting excited about. That is a view that still holds true. Although they are afforded a heroes reception by the crowd.

It’s easy to see why they are cult favourites too, intense, dark and surprisingly heavy it’s a decent guess that they are the type of band that if you are a fan of offer much. For us, though, they lack a little bit of charisma and many of their songs get to be a trifle samey.

They are not helped by sound and equipment problems, in particular, Conrad Keeley struggles with a mic stand and gets himself extremely angry. The faithful, however, lap it up and rightly so, but for us the evening was all about one band, and Turbowolf absolutely did not let us down. 

COUNTING CROWS @Birmingham Academy 19/4/13

Back in the mid 90s if you didn’t like grunge it was a tough time to be a rock and metal fan. Most of the bands you loved growing up had been killed off the minute Kurt said “here we are now, entertain us” and had gone into hiding. Moreover, there was no internet so you couldn’t really go hunting around for back catolouges of all the bands that were just before your time.

Which we mention by way of explanation as to why we are at a Counting Crows gig tonight. Back about 15 years ago we liked their “August And Everything After” album a lot. In fact, we liked it a great deal. Then a few years later their second album “Recovering The Satellites” came out with the almost metal “Angels Of The Silences” as its first single and were still big fans.

By and large we have lost touch with the Crows over the years since, although a couple of years back they did stick out a quite phenomenal track called “1492” from an album that we didn’t much care for, but we thought we would get a ticket for this largely for nostalgia purposes. Even here, though, there is a caveat. The last time we saw Adam Duritz and his mates was at the NIA a few years back. We went as RTM faves The Hold Steady were the support and the spectacle we witnessed had us saying “never again” when it came to Counting Crows.

And yet here we are, at a sold out Academy. As the band starts its set with “Round Here” the quite fabulous lead track from “….Everything After” and the first thing you notice, apart from what a great song it still is, is just how tubby Duritz has got in the last few years, but also that the songs aren’t quite as good as you remember.

The band don’t help themselves with the setlist either, chucking “Colourblind” in (and even back in the day that was terrible) but not including either of our two aforementioned favourites, or perhaps their best loved track “Mr Jones” seems a bit of an error.

There are some good moments, though, “Omaha” and “Rain King” still sound good, as does “Richard Manuel is Dead,” but really there is nothing that grips us.

Perhaps the most telling two facts are these: First the songs that we like best (“Four White Stallions” and “Friend Of The Devil”)  are both covers, while the song Durtiz says he likes best, “Washington Square” sounds lumpen and dull.

Tonight was the tale of band and a blog that have both moved on since 1994, both into things that we enjoy far more, but both have moved into opposite directions.

SONATA ARCTICA, Pythia, Neonfly @Birmingham Institute Library 16/4/13

RTM makes no secret of our love for Neonfly. Over the years the band just keeps on getting better and better. Last year they released the “Outshine The Sun” record, which was immediately one of our favourites of the year. Being on tours like this can only help raise their profile. The band appear to know it too, as they have broken off the recording of album number two to be here tonight. Songs such as “The Enemy,” “Ship With No Sail” and set closer “Morning Star” surely cannot fail to win over an audience such as this and happily the one new song they play “The Heart Of The Sun” gives notice that the sophomore effort might be just as good as the debut. Ones – we very much hope – to watch.

About a year ago we saw Dragonforce make their comeback in this very building. The support band they chose for the evening, which was in the smaller room upstairs, was Pythia. The Londoners came out dressed in armour and featured Emily Ovenden, trained opera singer, as vocalist. We weren’t overly keen on the group then and we still aren’t. They lack the class and guile of bands like Nightwish and while tracks like “The Heartless” are ok, there seems to us, to be something missing.

Melodic Power Metal is perhaps one of rocks oddest genres. One that never seems to cross over into the mainstream, but one that gets the punters in. The Library is full by the time Finlands Sonata Arctica take the stage.

Perhaps surprisingly they have been doing this for getting on for twenty years and there is an easy confidence about the group – led by vocalist Tommy Kakko - throughout. Other things we weren’t expecting from the band were just how much heavier they were live than on record and also how much fun they appeared to be having. You might expect if you just listened to the CD’s the whole thing to be a little po-faced, but not a bit of it! Kakko has clearly been to the Chuck Billy school of playing air guitar with his mic, doing so throughout, while the whole good-fun vibe of the evening is topped off by a spot of Russian dancing during “Cinderblox.”

Of course, it doesn’t matter how much fun the band are having if the songs don’t cut it, thankfully Arctica have good and interesting tunes in abundance. Roughly half of the set comes from latest album “The Stones Grow In Her Name” including opener “Only The Broken Hearts Make You Beautiful” and the superb  “I Have A Right” which features some fine harmony vocals.

It just wouldn’t be Power Metal though, if there wasn’t some epic balladry, and Sonata have a couple of these, pianos get used liberally in “In The Day” while towards the end they give “Tallulah” an airing, a massive lighters-in-the-air thing, which sees Kakko joking that the men in the crowd might want to go and something else for a while.

“Don’t Say A Word” brings the evening to a close, completely with a slightly daft outro, involving Vodka, which for our money is the only thing that didn’t quite work all night. Supremely talented musicians - Elias Viljanen on lead guitar perhaps the pick of the bunch – Sonata Arctica don’t need gimmicks. They were excellent this evening. One of those nights where you go in to a gig quite liking a band and come out a fan.

SKID ROW, I Am I, Buffalo Summer @Leamington Assembly 12/4/13

On November 20^th 1991 RTM went, along with my still best mate, to the NEC for our first ever gig. Back in those days, ripped jeans and leather jackets were the order of the day.

What happened that evening had a profound effect on my life. Rock n roll has never again sounded quite as cool, or as dangerous as it did that night. So began a lifelong love of live music that has – despite many changes – never left us. The headline act that night – after LA Guns and Love/Hate had played – was our favourite band at the time, New Jersey’s Skid Row.

Arriving at the Leamington Assembly (or Academy as Skid Row’s frontman Johnny Sollinger refers to it as) we see people like us, and ok there might only be 500 of us as opposed to the 1000s from 22 years ago, but it is testament to what Skid Row meant to people.

Time will tell whether Buffalo Summer ever get that sort of following. The South Wales band are to release their debut record this month and on the evidence of their 25 minute set tonight they have some decent songs to go on it. “Waltz Right Through” and “Down to The River” echo bands like Heavens Basement, while reminding RTM of No Sweat, an Irish rock band from the late 80s/early 90s. This is hard rock with a bluesy tinge that has no pretensions to be anything else.

I AM I, though, have pretensions to be quite big. Any band with ZP Theart as its singer would. The former Dragonforce man has a rather overbearing stage presence, which you either love or hate. We are in the latter camp, which is a shame because we do like I AM I’s songs. We were at the band’s first ever gig, last May in Birmingham and the opening track was ruined by Theart’s microphone not working, strangely the same thing happens tonight.

The band has changed since then, and it’s a better, more confident showing than that night. Theart, though is at the centre of everything they do, marching into the crowd during “Cross The Line” as he doesn’t feel its lively enough. “Kiss of Judas” is an excellent song, as is “Silent Genocide” but quite what possessed them to play John Farnham’s “The Voice” who the hell knows? A band that could, perhaps be excellent, but still has work to do.

The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” blasts out as Skid Row join us. Perhaps oddly for the bands of the glam era, three of the original members, guitarists Scotti Hill and Dave “Snake” Sabo and bass man Rachel Bolan remain – this is crucial as the trio were the main songwriters in the band, and while the elephant in the room is that former singer Sebastian Bach isn’t here, his replacement Sollinger is an able singer, and Bach, a man of such …urrmm “character” that he makes Theart look demure, isn’t really missed. Perhaps the salient point here is that Solinger has been fronting Skid Row for 14 years and, as such has been there longer than his predecessor anyway.

The unmistakable riff to “Slave To The Grind” kicks us off and instantly, perhaps for one night only, Skid Row are the best band in the world again, the heroes of our youth, the most dangerous band in the world. “Big Guns” only reinforces that point as do “Piece of Me” and “18 and Life” both from that astonishing debut record.

However, if most of the set does come from the first two albums, this not just an exercise in nostalgic wallowing, there are two songs from the “Thickskin” album which are better than we recall,  but best of all are the two songs they play from the forthcoming new EP “United World Rebellion Part 1.” “Let’s Go” and “Kings Of Demolition” both – on this listen – sound like they are right up there with anything in the back catalogue.

The band know, though, that they have to play the classics, and seem happy to do just that. “I Remember You” and “In A Darkened Room” are two superb ballads, while “Monkey Business”- which they use to let Snake and Hill play a solo -  is still full of groove and menace.  

The encore is the punky “Riot Act” before “Youth Gone Wild” finishes things, just like it always used to. It might be a touch incongruous to see men in their late 40s (in band and crowd) talking about being young and rebellious but, as Solinger points out “it doesn’t matter how old you are,” which is a fair point and one which neatly sums the night up.

There is always a little trepidation in nights like this. You are desperate for your old heroes to still be good. Tonight, though, Skid Row proved they are a few notches better than “good.” They were proof positive, that if you have some of the finest songs ever recorded, then some of your original members stand up and play them, nothing can really go wrong, and it doesn’t matter whether its 1991 or 2013. 

RIVAL SONS, Graveltones, Ulysses @Birmingham Institute 11/4/13

First of all you have to take your hat off to Rival Sons. In an age where it is increasingly hard for new bands to get heard, what they have achieved in the last couple of years in the UK is pretty remarkable.

When RTM first saw them in 2011 they were at a packed Slade Rooms. Then in autumn last year they were at a packed Wulfrun Hall and now just six months later they are at The Institute main room and guess what, that’s all but sold out too. The group are living, breathing proof that if you tour constantly, engage with fans on social media and have good songs, then you can still play rock n roll.

Both support bands for this evening are on this month’s Classic Rock “Bands to Watch” CD. Bath’s Ulysses we have seen before, when they opened for Rival Sons at the aforementioned Wulfrun gig. Unashamedly 1960s sounding, they remind RTM of The Kinks. “April Showers” is chirpy, while closing song “Taxi Driver” (the song on the CR CD) is catchy and immediate and sees the band all playing Kettle Drums before bidding us adieu.

London two piece Graveltones are next up, an odd affair, as two piece groups tend to be, they make a real racket. Sort of heavy blues, let’s be totally honest, whatever they do they are going to get compared to the White Stripes. If that is comparison that will upset them they are doing nothing to dissuade it. “I Want Your Love,” their song on the cover mounted CD is a good one, as is “Money”, but they finish off, rather strangely with a drum solo.

Which brings us to Rival Sons. Guitarist Scott Holliday emerges wearing a very loud suit, while singer Jay Buchanan has the look of a younger Steven Tyler. The band are greeted like heroes. Opener “You Want To” is rather a cameo of what happens for the rest of the night. The song is a good one, but the band – as befits a group with a retro outlook – they extend it into a huge jam, likewise the following track “Get What’s Coming” follows the same path. It does, to be totally honest, get just a little wearing.

“Gypsy Heart” is better, borrowing as it does, from The Black Crowes “Remedy” while “All The Way” with its attempts at light-heartedness doesn’t quite work. That is absolutely not the case for “Until The Sun Comes” the stand out moment of last year’s “Head Down” album, a fine song, full of Stonesy stomp, you wish all their songs were as short and sharp as this.

“Jordan” is a little bit too mystical for our tastes, while epic closer “Sacred Tounge” and “Face Of Light” starts off acoustically and builds to a conclusion.

The encore of “Burn Down Los Angeles” a brilliant track from the superb “Pressure And Time” album and “Soul” which is equally good, showcase just why this band is so popular, and why – despite RTM’s misgivings about the third album and the jamming nature of their delivery – they keep filling halls up and down the country.

Personally not all of this gig was to our tastes, that said, we are in a minority as the band continues to go from strength to strength.

THE WILDHEARTS, Eureka Machines @Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton 7/4/13

RTM can still vividly remember the first time it came across the Wildhearts. We were standing in the old Exposure rock club in Birmingham, waiting for a long forgotten Canadian band, Sven Gali, to play an acoustic set. when over the tannoy came a song that was quite unlike anything we had ever heard sounding like Metallica with melodies, it was brilliant. We asked the DJ what it was, the answer that came back began a lifelong love affair: “it’s called “My Baby Is A Headfuck,” he said. “By a group called the Wildhearts. “

Fast forward twenty years and the group is now back together for the umpteenth time, with a short tour to play their debut album “Earth vs The Wildhearts” from beginning to end. A quite stunning piece of music it is now twenty years old and ranks as one of RTM’s all-time favourite albums The same is true for many people it seems, given that the Wulfrun is jam packed full for this jaunt.

Which gives opening act Eureka Machines a big chance to impress. The brainchild of Ginger’s sidekick in his solo endeavours, Chris Catalyst. The Leeds band have quirky, perky songs that perhaps are closest in sound to Honeycrack, or actually anything Willie Dowling does, but there is a real dark heart to their songs. New album “Remain In Hope” is fine affair, while “Champion The Underdog” the title track of the previous record is perhaps the only song ever to namecheck celebrity steeplejack Fred Dibnah.  This is pop rock the way it should be done. Occasionally when they really cut loose, there is a Wildhearts type feel to their songs, with one or two reminding us of what “Endless Nameless” would have sounded like if not for all the feedback.

Then, at 9.15 precisely, four men wander out onto the stage. They smaile, wave, and kick off the riff to “Greetings from Shitsville.” And the tone is set for the next 1 hour and forty minutes. They run through “Earth vs” (“original version not the re-release” laughs main man Ginger – which means “Caffeine Bomb” is not played.) and just in case you had forgotten why this is up there with any record ever made, you surely would have remembered by the time “TV Tan,” “Everlone,” “Shame on Me” and “Loveshit” follow.

And that’s just side one. There is still time for “Miles Away Girl” the aforementioned “…Headfuck” “Suckerpunch” “News of the World,” “Drinking About Life” and “Love You Till I Don’t”.

If they had chosen to say goodnight after that then no one would have complained. However, after a five minute break they are back, with what the term the “audience participation part of the evening.” What this means is two roadies – Hot Steve and Dunc – stand on either side of the stage with song titles written on big cards. The audience then shouts for the one they want to hear and the band plays it. Amongst the choices are “Nothing Ever Changes But The Shoes” “Caffeine Bomb” and “Vanilla Radio” the latter featuring Ginger’s young son Jake on guitar and vocals.

If those choices don’t stray too far from the path, then few might have expected little known B-side “Got It On Tuesday” and “Naivety Play” an album track from “PHUQ” to be played. That they were says much for the depth in quality of the Wildhearts songs.

The usual singalong of “Geordie In Wonderland” “29x The Pain” and “I Wanna Go Where The People Go” finishes us off, after all are chosen by the audience and brings the curtain down on a quite brilliant evening and one which reminds us just what an incredible band The Wildhearts were (are?)

The group – with CJ and Rich who played on the original album, being joined by Jon Poole on bass - are clearly enjoying themselves immensely on stage but whether this heralds a more permanent reunion and new music remains to be seen. For now, lets just glory in this evening, which was, for all sorts of reasons, amazing. 

LOVE/HATE, Knockout Kaine @ Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton 3/4/13

The very first band I saw at the very first proper gig I went to was Love/Hate. Back in those days their intro involved their then bass player Skid cavorting around the stage with a cross made of Budweiser cans. It went on for ages.

Happily their own support act this evening, Knockout Kaine, seem on a mission to resurrect this idea of band making a grand entrance. Less gratifyingly when they do eventually start their set after an extraordinarily long intro tape, they do so with a glam rock version of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” We have said before that Queen have no place anywhere near music and we remain steadfast in that view.

RTM hasn’t listened to a great deal of glam rock recently, but KK tick all the boxes in terms of clichés. In addition to a ballad called “Backseat Rodeo” they have a song about drugs called “Crystal Eyes,” which probably gives you a flavour of the songs on view. Nothing original, but big dumb fun – which, when you think about it, is kind of the point.  

Just over 20 years ago Love/Hate were, to RTM, a seriously big deal. We once queued up outside Virgin Megastore in Birmingham to meet the group when album three “Lets Rumble” came out.

We are transported back to those times when “The Boozer” kicks off this 80 minute romp through their songs. There is, of course, a caveat to this. There is only one original member on show, singer Jizzy Pearl. In fairness, though, he has managed to assemble a reasonable cast of characters alongside him. Kerri Kelli, in lead guitar is an ex Alice Cooper cohort, while on bass is Robbie Crane once of Ratt.

The band are clearly enjoying themselves too. The crowd is bigger than they might have expected, in fact the only thing that is letting the sound down is the rather erratic sound. Even this is laughed off by an affable Pearl, who says it reminds him of a show “back in the motherfucking day” with a smile.

As might be expected the stuff from the stellar debut album “Blackout in the Red Room” one of the most underrated records of its generation goes down best “One More Round” is a huge singalong, as is “Fuel To Run,” while “Mary Jane” remains as catchy as ever.

What might be a surprise, though, is that songs from the second album “Wasted In America” and the aforementioned “…Rumble” sound fresher than ever. “Evil Twin” although lost in feedback is fabulous and “Spinning Wheel” is full of sleazy charm.

Best of all, though, is the encore. After “Why Do You Think They Call It Dope” comes “Ace Of Spades” with its punky sneer to the fore, before closing – as you knew it would – with the huge riff of “Blackout In The Red Room.”

Ok, so this was an evening that offered nothing new whatsoever, but occasionally you only need a band to let you wallow in nostalgia. And, dammit, that’s exactly what Love/Hate served up tonight. Superb. 

VOODOO SIX, Resin, Piston @Academy 3 Birmingham 31/3/13

Considering the 6.30 start and with it being Easter Sunday, there is a decent crowd in the Academy 3 when Staffordshire’s Piston take the stage. The first thing you notice is the top shape-throwing from lead guitarist Jack, who in addition to having all the moves, is extremely good. Actually, the band as a whole deserve great credit for being ostensibly a twin-guitar group, but sounding nothing like either Thin Lizzy or Iron Maiden, which must be quite hard to do.

They are in possession of a couple of fine songs. “Roaming Around” ticks the boxes, but best of all, perhaps, is “Playing With Fire” which grooves along very nicely indeed. And afforded the luxury of a 40 minute set, they augment with a couple of covers, “Whole Lotta Rosie” is a fairly bog-standard affair (although a million times superior to the version of the song that Guns n Roses murdered at the NEC a few years back) but CCRs “Proud Mary” which they gave their own stamp to, is much, much better.

Resin have come up from Leicester for this show and appear to have brought a healthy entourage with them too. This includes the youngest audience member at RTM has ever seen, but bless them, they enjoyed themselves.

The band are highly rated too and are clearly fine musicians. Boy, they write an opening riff. The problem to RTM – who it must be said in mitigation have never been huge fans of alternative metal – is that once the riffs are over there is very little else. The lyrics are rooted in the mid-90s stuff of Live and Candlebox and arguably their best song the Alice In Chains-esque “Fake” goes on slightly too long. In fairness, though, they do deserve immense credit for getting the word “procrastinating” into a rock song.

Strangely, the crowd is at its lowest when Voodoo Six hit the stage. But after the Great Escape theme tune finishes they are launching straight into “Like The Others Did” from 2010’s fantastic “Fluke?” album. A track that encapsulates the band at their best, meaty riffs and a decent chorus, it is followed by “Aint No Friend Of Mine” from their debut 2008s “First Hit For Free” and “Falling Knives” from last year’s EP. So far so good.

Then things go a touch awry. This lengthy UK tour is in advance of album number three “Music To Invade Countries To” and the songs they air from that – on first listen – don’t quite match up. One of these (which appears to be called “Don’t Lead Me On”) is a little dull, and while “Ship Goes Down” is much better, it does lack a chorus.

On stage for 80 minutes the band play magnificent “Fluke” trio “Take The Blame,” “Take Aim” and “Something For You” maybe a little too early in the set, which means a lot of new songs that no one has heard yet, in one go.

After “Long Way From Home” ends things, they are called back for an encore of “Live Again” with frontman Luke Purdie joking they don’t have enough material for any more songs.

Throwaway remark, maybe, but it perhaps rings true. The band are about to go all around Europe with Iron Maiden, by virtue of, let’s be frank about this, the fact that bass player Tony Newton is Maiden’s soundman and Steve Harris’s mate and that is perhaps where they shine. A superb support band, stick them in front of anyone for 45 minutes and they would win a crowd over, but given the chance to headline they perhaps lack the material at this stage for a full set.

That might change in the future, but with the new songs failing to initially convince, they might be stuck in British metals lower leagues. 

EVERCLEAR, Blame @Academy 2 Birmingham 29/3/13

Uttoxeter’s Blame seem to have a clear mission. The five piece, who have supported Everclear throughout this fairly lengthy UK tour, appear desperate to revive the Britrock scene of the mid-to late 90s.

At RTM we have never had too much of a problem with bands that want to take inspiration from Honeycrack, The Jelly’s et al and so it is here. “After Hours” rolls along with all the hooks of a Willy Dowling song, while their cover of The Replacements “Bastards Of Young” is interesting by virtue of the fact that they have taken, what Jesse Malin sung as a slow, piano based ballad and turned it into a punky tune with echoes of Bad Religion (this is perhaps closer to the original, but it was a fine rendition either way). Blame is the sound of a band being given a big chance and doing their best to take it.

Sometimes, you just feel old. On the way to watch LA’s Everclear, for the very first time,  it strikes us that the “Heartspark Dollarsign” single – RTM’s very first connection to the band and which is played tonight – is almost 18 years old. Time flies and all that.

There is, however, a serious point in all this nostalgic naval gazing. First the band (now beefed up, like the support, to a five piece, with main man Art Alexakis the only surviving original member) have not been frequent visitors to these shores, and second their music is rather rooted in that late 90s angst period (post grunge, the magazines called it) and there is a question or two as to how well it will translate in the 21^st century.

It takes until about two seconds after the Beach Boys-esque intro to “So Much For The Afterglow” finishes with the “This is a song about Susan” lyric to put a smile on collective faces. Everclear, are back, back, back  - and for the next 75 minutes they are tremendous fun.

“Father of Mine” and “Heroin Girl” follow. Three songs in and we haven’t moved away from the bands classic second and third full length records – and largely that is the way it stays.

There is a dip back to the very first album for debut single “Fire Maple Song” and a couple of songs from “Learning How To Smile Volume 1” in “AM Radio” and the crowd pleasing “Wonderful” but barely anything from the later period of their career. “Volvo Driving Soccer Mom” (which still sounds a bit like “Stacey’s Mom” by the Fountains of Wayne to these ears) is the only song played at all from that album, while 2012’s “Invisible Stars” – which is a real return to form in fairness – is represented just once, by “Be Careful What You Wish For”.

 After the “Santa Monica“ with its “we can swim past the breakers and watch the world die” refrain, closes the main set, they are back for a lengthy encore which contains a superb “Summerland” and “You Make Me Feel Like A Whore” before a curiously uplifting evening ends with “I Will Buy You A New Life.”

This is the first time despite the alluded to lengthy fandom that RTM has seen Everclear. As such we have no quibbles with the greatest hits nature of the set tonight. However, Art has got himself a decent, fresh young band around him, and as “….Stars” has proved he still has the knack for writing, thought-provoking rock n roll with catchy choruses. As such, is this nostalgia act quite enough, or do the band need to play more new stuff in future to remain viable?

That is a question for the future. For tonight, wallowing in the past hasn’t sounded quite so good in years.